While May 4th is Star Wars Day, many also celebrate the “Evil Star Wars Day” of May 6th (as in “Sith”) to extend Star Wars Day into three day celebration.
Released: 25 May 2018 Director: Ron Howard Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
The Review: I think it’s only fair to start by saying I didn’t care much for Disney’s “Sequel Trilogy”, mainly because I didn’t like some of the narrative choices (like rehashing the Original Trilogy at the expense of a unique and logical continuation). I much preferred Rogue One: A Star Wars Story(Edwards, 2016), which perfectly cashed in on nostalgia, though I’m still not convinced that Han Solo really needed his own spin-off/origin story, especially one that omits his most notorious rival: Boba Fett (Jeremy Bulloch/Temuera Morrison). Set ten years before Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope(Lucas, 1977), Solo sees young, wannabe pilot Han (Alden Ehrenreich) and his girlfriend Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke) struggling to survive on the spaceship-building world of Corellia. Eager to escape the thumb of Lady Proxima (Linda Hunt), who’s essentially an insectoid Fagin, and fly off to the stars, they some “coaxium” hyperfuel to bribe their way off the planet. Thanks to Han taking Lady Proxima by surprise and making a hasty retreat through the crowded streets, the two reach the dock and successfully bribe their way through, only for Qi’ra to be apprehended at the last minute. Distraught and directionless, with Lady Proxima’s goons on one side and abusive Imperial Stormtroopers on the other, Han makes a desperate gamble and enlists in the Imperial Navy, hoping to become a pilot and return to Corellia and rescue his lady love. Unfortunately, Han (dubbed Han “Solo” since he’s “all alone”) has a bit of an attitude problem, one not conducive with the Galactic Empire’s desire for obedient cannon fodder, and is kicked out of flight school for insubordination. Drafted into the infantry, Han is left in the thick of an all-out warzone on Mimban, which is where he first catches sight of slick gunfighter Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson).
Desperate to reunite with his lost love, young Han falls in with Beckett and runs afoul of Dryden Voss.
Drawn to Beckett’s fast trigger finger, Han quickly deduces that Beckett and his cohorts – devoted if distrustful wife Val Beckett (Thandiwe Newton) and four-armed Ardennian pilot Rio Durant (Jon Favreau) – are posing as Imperial officers looking to steal an armoured transport hauler. Disenchanted with the Empire and desperate to get back to Qi’ra, Han lobbies to join Beckett’s crew, citing his own skills as a pilot. When this fails, Han attempts to blackmail Beckett, who responds by reporting him as a deserter, resulting in Han being thrown to the Empire’s “beast”. Luckily for Han, the beast turns out to be Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo), an enslaved Wookie the Imperials jovially watch consume their victims. Thanks to Han’s rudimentary knowledge of Shyriiwook, he and Chewie concoct a ruse to escape and frantically flag Beckett down. Impressed by Han’s determination and initiative, Beckett allows him and Chewie to assist in stealing a shipment of coaxium from a high-speed train on the snowy, mountainous world of Vandor, despite Val’s objections. Although Han and Chewie acquit themselves well on the heist and things go smoothly, with the smugglers successfully separating the train and ready to secure the payload, a mercenary group led by the infamous Enfys Nest (Erin Kellyman) interferes, despite Beckett guaranteeing that Enfys Nest wouldn’t be a problem. Rio is mortally wounded when Enfys Nest’s cohorts board the transport, Val’s forced to sacrifice herself to secure the coaxium, and Han is forced to ditch the payload to avoid meeting the same fate. Though heartbroken, Beckett’s more concerned with explaining the loss to Dryden Vos (Paul Bettany), a loquacious but malevolent crime lord who heads the feared “Crimson Dawn” crime syndicate and who hired Beckett and his crew to steal the hyperfuel. Realising his only choice is to plead for a second chance, Beckett reluctantly allows Han and Chewie to accompany him to Dryden’s elaborate yacht, warning that they’ll be caught up in the smuggler’s life forever once they board the ship.
Though not as rugged as I expected, Ehrenreich did a great job as the young, naïve Han Solo.
Ehrenreich makes for a pretty great young Solo, despite his critics. He shares many of Harrison Ford’s mannerisms while still making the role his own and is full of cock-sure optimism, confident that he can either blag, fight, or flee his way out of a situation. Though a little “rough around the edges”, Han is far from the seasoned scoundrel we meet in A New Hope, meaning he’s somewhat naïve and overly trusting, especially of Beckett and Qi’ra, who he’s stunned to find working as Dryden’s right-hand. Han is incredibly resourceful, however, smooth-talking many characters, offering solutions to keep Dryden from killing them (even if it means an insane plan to steal unrefined coaxium from the hostile world Kessel), and adopting various disguises to infiltrate different establishments. Although the story goes into (at times painstaking) detail to show how Han acquired his trademark look, blaster, and starship, and places undue emphasis on his gold dice, Han’s still a charismatic, roguish character you can’t help but root for. Unfortunately, Han’s character arc is largely the same as in A New Hope. Rather than showing Han as a rugged, selfish, free-loading smuggler who’ll backstab anyone for a profit, he’s a bleeding heart and hopeless romantic. He clings to his dream of escaping to the stars with Qi’ra, aids Chewie in freeing his Wookie brethren on Kessel, and sympathises with Enfys Nest’s plight so much that he risks the wrath of the Crimson Dawn. While he refuses to join the fledgling Rebellion and denies being a “good guy”, Qi’ra is right in her assessment of him as Han has a good heart beneath all his bravado and big talk and always tries to do the right thing, putting him somewhat at odds with the more mercenary Beckett, who isn’t above double-crossing his allies if it benefits him.
As gorgeous as she is, I felt Qi’ra was under-utilised and undeserving of the reputation given her.
Han is joined by some interesting and well-rounded characters. Beckett examples all the negative aspects of the smuggler life that Han eventually struggles to juggle. He’s constantly living with a bounty on his head and in debt, desperate to leave it all behind and return to Glee Anselm with Val but always making new enemies. A seasoned smuggler, Beckett tries to teach Han (and, to a lesser extent, the others) how dangerous the galaxy is, emphasising the importance of having a plan and taking advantage of any opportunity, but is unwilling to stick his neck out for anyone unless it services him. Unfortunately, his crew is largely expendable. Considering how quickly they’re all killed off, I question why they were included as it might’ve saved time to have Qi’ra (on Dryden’s orders), Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover), and L3-37 (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) be Beckett’s crew just to keep the pace up. While I hate to say anything negative about the absolutely gorgeous Emilia Clarke, her arc is pretty predictable, and her physicality and demeanour do not suit the “cold-blooded assassin” vibe. Though she claims to be a master of Teräs Käsi and a highly trained warrior, Qi’ra is more of a subtle manipulator and peacemaker, using her status as Dryden’s lieutenant to get Lando on side when Han’s sabacc skills fail and using subterfuge to infiltrate Kessel. Though clearly torn between her loyalty to Dryden and her love for Han, Qi’ra ultimately sees herself as bound to her fate thanks to years of performing unknown (but allegedly unspeakable) deeds. I found the idea of Han having a true love prior to Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) I bit odd, especially as Han isn’t especially distraught by Qi’ra choosing to lead Crimson Dawn in Dryden’s place, so it’s not like he’s closed his heart off by the end. Indeed, I can’t help but think it might’ve been better to have Qi’ra tragically killed saving Han, thus hardening his heart and explaining why he’s such a scoundrel in A New Hope as Beckett and Qi’ra’s betrayals would’ve taught him harsh lessons about trust.
Lando and outspoken droid L3-37 steal the show and facilitate some of Han’s iconic moments.
Although I won’t pretend to have read every Han Solo book, it’s my understanding that Solo takes some inspiration from non-canon and canon texts starring the title character. This means we see him as an Imperial and his first meeting with Chewie, with the two quickly forming a close bond after they help each other escape and save each other’s lives on Vandor. Chewie’s said to be searching for his “tribe or family” but falls in with Han out of gratitude for him rescuing him, even returning to aid Han and escaping Kessel with the others despite reuniting with his Wookie brethren. Solo also depicts Han’s first meeting with charismatic gambler Lando Calrissian, with Donald Glover stealing the show by absolutely nailing Billy Dee Williams’ mannerisms in his portrayal of as the younger but no less charismatic rogue. Smooth talking, arrogant, and slick, Lando cheats at sabacc but is persuaded to lend them the Millennium Falcon in return for 25% 20% of the take. Lando’s joined by L3-37, another in a long line of outspoken and rebellious droids who’s said to have the best navigational system in the galaxy. Obnoxious and with an innate hatred of droid mistreatment, L3-37 showcases a sentence beyond other Star Wars droids by hinting at a sexual relationship between her and Lando and actively encouraging other droids to oppose their humanoid “masters”. L3-37 becomes so enamoured with the rebellion she sparks on Kessel that she’s summarily gunned down and tragically dies in Lando’s arms, only to live against when he and Qi’ra install her into the Millennium Falcon to complete the hazardous “Kessel Run” in less than twenty parsecs, thereby explaining why the ship is so inexplicably fast. Han, naturally, falls in love with the Millennium Falcon and relishes taking the controls and showing off by blindly plunging into the maelstrom surrounding Kessel, using nothing but gut instinct and his bravado to brave the storm and deliver the unstable, unrefined coaxium to Savareen but earning Lando’s ire in the process as he ditches the others after they reach the planet.
As menacing as Dryden Voss was, Enfys Nest and Maul seemed wasted and shoe-horned in.
Initially planned to be a half-mountain lion, half-human, Dryden Voss makes a nice change of pace from the usual pure evil Imperials, depicted as the cold, calculating, and manipulative arm of the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate. This allows Solo to depict other antagonistic forces in a galaxy all-too-often dominated by Imperials and nicely sets up future conflicts with the syndicate’s all-too-familiar dark figurehead, revealed to be former Sith, Maul (Ray Park/Sam Witwer). This revelation was confusing to me as someone who hasn’t dabbled much in extended Star Wars media and definitely felt unnecessary as I never imagined Maul as the kind of guy to run a crime syndicate. Dryden, however, was menacing presence who adopted the guise of a welcoming and even amiable figurehead only to showcase a violent temper (as indicated by his glowing eyes and facial markings), sadistic mean streak, and uncompromisingly ruthless nature. I liked how unpredictable he was and how every scene with him had me as on edge as the characters, though I would’ve liked to see Prince Xizor and the Black Sun organisation in his place as another reference to wider Star Wars canon. Initially depicted as a terrorist and a callous mercenary, Enfys Nest is revealed to be a young girl seeking to strike back against the malicious Crimson Dawn and oppose the oppressive Empire, earning Han’s sympathy (though not his allegiance) and showing how dangerous the galaxy is. However, I still would’ve preferred to see Boba Fett in her place, perhaps leading a handful of other bounty hunters as Dryden’s insurance policy, as I don’t think any reference has been made to Enfys Nest since Solo. Indeed, the film ends on a cliff-hanger and there were clearly plans for more stories to be told with the young Han that have apparently been abandoned due to the film’s poor critical and commercial performance. While I doubt the filmmakers expected this, it was still bold of them to include all these loose ends even after all the alterations and behind-the-scenes drama that plagued the film.
Final Thoughts: I was cautiously optimistic when Solo: A Star Wars Story was first announced, expecting it to be an action-packed, science-fiction heist film much like how Rogue One was more of a war/spy thriller than a galactic epic space opera like the main series films. I remember finding it surprisingly enjoyable, despite some flaws and a few of my personal grievances with the decisions made, and I still stand by that assessment. Honestly, I was really disappointed by the negative reactions to the film, especially those that complained about it being “safe” or a “by-the-numbers science-fiction film” as I don’t see what’s wrong with that. The only issues I had were extremely minor (I could’ve done without the text at the start, for example, it’s very convenient that Qi’ra works for Dryden Voss, and the head of the syndicate probably should have been a familiar, undeveloped antagonist from the Sequel Trilogy) and I found the film to be very exciting, fast-paced (once Han gets off of Corellia). All the performances were really good, as were the set pieces. The train heist was particularly memorable, as was the famous Kessel Run, with its malevolent space storms and Lovecraftian entity, and the film hit just the right level of visual and practical nostalgia for me with its presentation and effects. I do wish this had been a more self-contained story as it seems we’ll never get a resolution to the film’s cliff-hanger ending, however, and I remain disappointed by Disney’s refusal to do anything with this cast and the loose ends left by the film. still, I think Solo remains somewhat under-rated and underappreciated as it’s a very engaging and enjoyable Star Wars romp with some fun action, some tangible chemistry between the leads, and a lot more to offer than many gave it credit for at the time.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Pretty Good
Did you enjoy Solo: A Star Wars Story? Do you agree that it’s under-rated or do you still think it’s one of the more disappointing Star Wars spin-offs? Were you a fan of Alden Ehrenreich as a young Han Solo and his chemistry with Emilia Clarke? Do you agree that Dryden Voss was a menacing change of pace for a Star Wars villain? Did you think the film went a bit overboard explaining unnecessary stuff about Han? How are you celebrating Star Wars this month? I’d love to see your thoughts on Solo: A Star Wars Story in the comments below so feel free to share your opinions, good or bad, and go donate to my Ko-Fi if you liked this review.
Although May 4th is Star Wars Day, many also celebrate on May 5th as a play on the word “Sith”, extending Star Wars Day into three day celebration.
Writer: Tom Veitch – Artist: Cam Kennedy
Story Title: “The Destiny of a Jedi” Published: 12 December 1991
Story Title: “Devastator of Worlds” Published: 18 February 1992
Story Title: “The Battle for Calamari” Published: 21 April 1992
Story Title: “Confrontation on the Smugglers’ Moon” Published: 23 June 1992
Story Title: “Emperor Reborn” Published: 18 August 1992
Story Title: “The Fate of a Galaxy” Published: 20 October 1992
Quick Facts: Following his Original Trilogy, George Lucas licensed Star Wars to continue in novels (later dubbed “Legends”) and comics initially published by Marvel Comics before being picked up by Dark Horse Comics. Although Lucas apparently shot down Tom Veitch’s pitch of having someone else don Darth Vader’s armour and approved Emperor Sheev Palpatine to return in a clone body, later reports stated approval came from Lucasfilm contact Lucy Autrey Wilson. The well–regarded metaseries sold over 100,00 copies and helped sustainStar Wars in the 1990s, was followed by two sequels, and was even referenced in some Star Wars videogames.
The Review: According to the very fitting opening scroll that opens the story, Dark Empire takes place “long years” after Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi(Marquand, 1983) where, after defeating the Galactic Empire, the Rebel Alliance reformed into the New Republic. However, without the legendary Jedi Knights, the New Republic struggled to police the galaxy. Civil war erupted as Imperial remnants retook key worlds, leading Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and former smuggler turned General Lando Calrissian crashing their captured Star Destroyer somewhere near the Imperial City. General Han Solo and his wife, Princess Leia Organa-Solo, Chewbacca, and C-3PO/Threepio take the Millennium Falcon to look for them, finding only debris and the mutinous Imperials battling the Emperor’s loyalists. Han bypasses the conflict, hoping both sides will destroy each other, and heads for the crash site, Leia using Luke’s Force teachings to clear the way to Lando, R2-D2/Artoo, and the other survivors, only to learn that Luke went to investigate nearby remnants of the Dark Side. However, Luke shows up a few panels later to turn the tide when the group is attacked by scavengers and weapons droids, defeating both as easily as he tears apart an Imperial Walker with the Force. As Luke senses that “someone…or something” is using the Dark Side somewhere in the galaxy, he insists that Han and Leia flee so he can investigate further. While they wish to stay close, he orders them to flee when an energy storm emerges from a hyperspace wormhole and sweeps the planet. They reluctantly comply to protect the next generation of Jedi, though Artoo stays with his master as he approaches and is consumed by the raging storm, apparently a manifestation of the Dark Side generated as a reaction to Luke’s presence.
The revived Emperor tempts Luke to the Dark Side and unleashes his latest doomsday weapons.
The Falcon returns to the Rebel fleet stationed around the fifth moon of Da Soocha, where Fleet Admiral Gial Ackbar shares his concerns of the Imperials who have vanished into the “uninhabited regions of the galactic core” with Mon Mothma. Upon learning of Luke’s fate, Mon Mothma calls an emergency meeting to discuss the “World Devastators” emerging from the galactic core and threatening New Republic allies. A fleet of these Dark Side-engineered destroyers ravage Admiral Ackbar’s home world, Mon Calamari, sucking up everything in their path and converting it into fuel and energy and posing a threat far greater than the Death Star due to their sheer number and awesome power. After Admiral Ackbar orders immediate retaliation, Han and Leia share a rare quiet moment where they discuss Luke, who’s been taken to Byss, a Dark Side-infested world deep in the galactic core, via an Imperial Dungeon Ship. Imprisoned within an energy cage, Luke and Artoo are taken to a grand citadel by ominous, cloaked figures and only somewhat amazed to meet Emperor Palpatine. Emperor Palpatine reveals that he maintained his stranglehold over the galaxy and avoided death, even as his body withered and decayed, thanks to cloning, painfully transferring his consciousness into a new body and offers Luke the chance to join him. Emperor Palpatine mocks the New Republic’s attempts to usurp his Empire and proposes Luke command the World Devastators. Emperor Palpatine is impressed by Luke’s resolve but points out that killing him “in anger” would only cause him to return in a new body and offers to train him in the Dark Side to give Luke the power and knowledge to truly defeat him. Thus, though conflicted, Luke submits to the Emperor like his father did decades ago. Although Han’s elated to find that other worlds have joined their efforts against the World Devastators, he’s as troubled as Leia when his wife shares that Luke has turned to the Dark Side, having sensed the change through the Force, but resolves to help his friend however possible.
The looming crisis sees Han call in some old favours to get to the dark world of Byss.
Commander Wedge Antilles and Lando lead the assault against the Mon Calamari World Devastators using a captured Star Destroyer, the Emancipator, surprising the orbiting Imperial fleet. However, the World Devastators are heavily advanced, armed, armoured, and shielded, and spew Twin Ion Engine Drone (TIE/D) fighters to overwhelm the Rebels. To make matters worse, a World Devastator turns its main vacuum weapon against the Emancipator, tearing it apart and forcing Lando and the others to abandon ship. Across the galaxy, Leia is suddenly confronted by a vision of Luke, garbed in Darth Vader’s shadow, who warns her not to look for him or interfere with his actions. Though he claims to have willingly followed in his father’s footsteps to destroy the Dark Side, Leia’s unconvinced, especially when Emperor Palpatine speaks through Luke’s visage and the strain causes her to collapse. As Han preps the new recruits and introduces the new E-Wing, Mon Mothma alerts him to Leia’s condition and he visits her in the infirmary. Though sceptical, Han agrees to accompany Leia to the galactic core to rescue Luke before he’s lost to the Dark Side, taking Threepio and the Falcon to Nal Hutta to get help from the devious Hutts. Although there’s a hefty bounty for Han and Leia after their run-ins with Jabba the Hutt, Han’s contact, Mako Spince, welcomes them in, only for the Falcon to be damaged by bounty hunters looking to cash in on the bounty. Han is sheltered by another of his unscrupulous contacts, Shug Ninx, who reveals that the Empire has been moving a lot of military hardware lately. Still, Han’s old flame, Salla Zend, offers them the Starlight Intruder, a deep core freighter that’ll suit their purposes, in exchange for cash. As the Starlight Intruder still needs some work, Han takes Leia to his old homestead to get a few parts, unnerved by how awful the neighbourhood has become and being gifted an ancient lightsaber by remorseful, wizened, and destitute former Jedi Vima-Da-Boda.
Han and Leia are horrified to see how far Luke’s fallen under Palpatine’s sway.
When they reach Han’s old home, they’re stunned to find Mako has betrayed them to Boba Fett (having proven “indigestible” to the Sarlaac) and Denga, forcing them to flee through the crowded spaceport. As clumsy as ever, one of Boba Fett’s wrist rockets knocks a passing Hutt crime boss from on his floater and to his death, allowing Han and Leia to flee in the Starlight Intruder. Unaware that Boba Fett and Dengar are in hot pursuit in Slave II, Han and the others head to Byss. During the trip, Leia inspects Vima’s lightsaber and receives a horrifying vision of Luke commanding the Imperial forces on Mon Calamari. Despite receiving backup from the E-Wings, the Republic fleet suffers massive losses before the world smasher suddenly shuts down when improper signals are sent from Byss, causing the massive ship to self-destruct and making Lando question the strategy of their commander. Upon arriving at Byss, Salla’s codes allow the Starlight Interceptor to beach the planetary shield, though Slave II is blasted when it tries to sneak in behind them. Concerned for Luke’s welfare on such a dark and foreboding world, Leia convinces Han to let her pilot the Falcon to his location, an ominous, gleaming black tower in the heart of the city, easily using the Force to fool the guards and sensors. Upon docking, Leia and the others are instantly apprehended to be taken to “Lord Skywalker”, though Salla and Ninx blast to safety, as planned. Astonished to learn that Emperor Palpatine is alive and that Luke’s erased Artoo’s main programming Leia, Han, and Threepio, meet Luke in the clone laboratories, where Han admonishes Luke’s fall from grace and Luke reveals his artificial hand has been replaced by an energy blaster! When Emperor Palpatine arrives, Leia immediately lashes out with her lightsaber, much to his glee, though he easily disintegrates it and punishes her with his lightning.
Though Luke shakes off the Dark Side, a restored Palpatine plots to possess Leia’s unborn child.
When Han flies into a rage, Luke easily subdues him, insisting he’s doing what’s best for the galaxy and leaving Han vowing to kill him for what he’s done. Although Han sends a distress all to Salla and Ninx, they (and the Falcon) are apprehended by an Imperial Hunter-Killer droid. Meanwhile, Emperor Palpatine reveals he knows Luke’s been surreptitiously sabotaging him and shows Leia an ancient Jedi holocron that contains a warning from Boda-Baas regarding the Dark Side. Emperor Palpatine then plays the “helpless old man” card to prey upon Leia’s compassion before revealing his plans to transfer his essence into the child growing within her, driving her into a rage. She tips over Emperor Palpatine’s bed, swipes the holocron, and heads to Luke, who dismisses a commander’s concerns about sabotage and reveals that he’s fully aware of what he’s doing and has loaded Artoo with the Emperor’s battle plans and master codes. Though reluctant, Leia defends Luke when they reconvene with Han as the data is invaluable to stopping the World Devastators, and they all escape aboard the Hunter-Killer (which Ninx successfully hacked) and in the Falcon. However, once they’re safely away, Luke reveals that he’s been a Force projection the entire time and has remained on Byss to confront Emperor Palpatine. Having learned the Emperor’s secrets and freed himself from his control, Luke goes to prevent Palpatine’s latest mind transference, vehemently rejecting the Emperor’s suggestion that he become Palpatine’s willing host and frantically destroying all the gestating clones when the Emperor dies in a burst of Dark Side energy. Despite Luke’s efforts, Emperor Palpatine is reborn in a younger clone body who quickly grabs a nearby lightsaber, mocks and disarms Luke, and demands that he accompany him to retrieve the holocron…and Leia’s unborn child!
Thanks to the Skywalker’s bond, the Emperor’s malicious plot is foiled.
Chewbacca accesses the data Luke stored in Artoo to disable the World Devastators on Mon Calamari, which Artoo turns against each other to end their threat. The victory sees Han begrudgingly apologise to Leia for doubting Luke (and her), though it’s just the beginning of their counterattack against the Empire. Reviewing the holocron, Leia learns of a prophecy of two siblings who “walk the sky”; while the brother would fall to the Dark Side, the sister’s unborn child could save him. Just then, Emperor Palpatine’s gargantuan flagship delivers an ultimatum: hand over Leia and he’ll discuss a truce. When Han refuses to let Leia go, she’s forced to manipulate him with the Force to hand herself over, intent on rescuing Luke, who’s been brainwashed back to the Dark Side. When Leia (and her unborn child) refuses the Emperor’s demands, he sets a reluctant Luke against her. As they clash lightsabers, Leia pleads with Luke to see into her child’s future with the Force, revealing that he will train the boy to be a great Jedi, and Luke begs her to help him break free from the Dark Side. Having learned why and how his father was so seduced by the Dark Side’s power, Luke rejects the darkness, enraging the Emperor, who curses their bloodline, mocks Darth Vader’s impotence, and strikes Luke with lightning. Drawing strength from his bond with Leia, Luke battles the Emperor, literally disarming him and preparing to arrest him. Defiant to the end, Emperor Palpatine wills another cataclysmic storm to tear through the Republic fleet, though Luke and Leia combine their powers to turn this raging force against the Emperor’s flagship, escaping as it and the Emperor are consumed. Having learned a valuable lesson and avoided the same fate as his father, Luke resolves to restore the Jedi Order alongside his family.
Final Thoughts: I can’t remember if I’ve read Dark Empire before. I feel like I have, or at least read about it, and I know elements of it (specifically the World Devastator attack on Mon Calamari) from Star Ways: Rogue Squadron (Factor 5/LucasArts, 1998). Regardless, I knew the basic plot and specifically chose to revisit it based on my dislike for how poorly Emperor Palpatine’s (Ian McDiarmid) resurrection was handled in Star Wars: Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (Abrams, 2019). Elements of Dark Empire are echoed in The Rise of Skywalker, by accident or design, such as the Empire having a hidden, devastating fleet and the Emperor returning (…“somehow”…) through “Dark science! Cloning! Secrets only the Sith knew!” but it was horribly executed. Here, it’s the focal point of the story, with it explicitly said that the Emperor has repeatedly cheated death by transferring his power and consciousness into fresh clone bodies, which rapidly deteriorate due to the Dark Side. Also, but the revived Emperor is the linchpin for a fascinating story arc for Luke Skywalker, one denied his film counterpart, as he willingly follows the Dark Path to learn its secrets and understand why his father turned to the Dark Side. This sees Luke adopt a darker, imposing demeanour that echoes Darth Vader’s, commanding the World Devastators from afar and seemingly turning against his allies. Sadly, this aspect is somewhat confused. It’s said that Luke is sabotaging the world crushers, but they still inflict cataclysmic death and damage, and Luke also says that Leia’s influence helped him shake off the Emperor’s power, suggesting he wasn’t in full control of himself. Paradoxically, he had the wherewithal to download the kill codes for the machines and to use Palpatine’s teachings against him yet also fell under the Emperor’s sway in the finale.
Luke’s questionable and nonsensical turn to the Dark Side sadly fails to live up to its full potential.
Things would’ve been far more coherent if we’d learned that Luke was troubled about his father from the start, that he’d been pondering the Dark Side and wanted to learn of its allure to better understand and fight it. Or, if Luke had fully turned to the Dark Side, losing himself to the Emperor’s influence and only escaping his grasp due to Leia’s intervention in the finale, thus meaning he would be devastated by the destruction he caused and determined to regain the trust of his allies. Some of this is here, with Han being especially suspicious and mad at Luke, launching himself at him, vowing to kill him, and constantly questioning his loyalties despite Leia’s unwavering faith in her brother. It’s kind of amazing how quickly Han turns on Luke, but completely understandable given how devastating the world crushers are and everything Han experienced at Darth Vader’s hands. Leia acts very holier-than-thou about it all, considering herself a learned Jedi and trusting that Luke either has a plan, however flawed, or can be saved. Luckily, there’s a convenient prophecy that spells out how the crisis will be averted, with Luke and Leia realising that they (and the Jedi) are stronger united and overcoming the Dark Side through sheer willpower. This is somewhat ironic considering it’s widely accepted that the Jedi’s vast numbers led to corruption and complacency, but also a lovely way to reinforce the bond between the Skywalkers. Leia never gives up on Luke, just as he never gave up on his father, and he constantly warns her not to pursue him to keep her and her baby safe. It’s not immediately clear what Luke intended to do without Leia or what insight he gained from the Emperor’s teachings. We never see him do anything with the Dark Side and it’s pure-hearted Jedi power that saves the day, so his turn was simply to get the kill codes, it seems. Something I’d wager Artoo could’ve just downloaded with a bit of hacking rather than risking Luke’s soul.
Some questionable art and lacklustre executions drag this otherwise intriguing story down.
Still, as half-assed as some of that is, I do like the concept. Emperor Palpatine is the ultimate manipulator, preying upon Luke and Leia’s compassion and insecurities, while berating how weak Darth Vader was. I’m not sure why he was so obsessed with the holocron as it only contained the Skywalker prophecy, but I liked his sinister plot to possess Leia’s baby and seeing him reborn as in a young, strong body. Sadly, the art is dreadful. Ships look pretty good (the World Devastators look especially…devastating…) and the likenesses are largely on point, but there’s a strange, washed-out colour scheme that makes things seem blurry and amateurish. At times, I had trouble telling Luke and the young Palpatine apart, the youthful Emperor appeared to have lizard skin thanks to some odd lighting, and everything just feels very rushed and basic at times. It was weird seeing Boba Fett shoe-horned in, with the explanation of his survival being handwaved away and him being as ineffectual as ever. In fact, the entire side plot to Nal Hutta could’ve been excised completely to just have Han and the others use a stolen Imperial craft. That could’ve placed more focus on Luke’s turn, or possibly shortened the story by an issue or two, or allowed for some bigger battle sequences between the new-fangled E-Wings (whose capabilities I’m still unclear of) and the World Devastators. Indeed, as terrifying as the World Devastators are, their destruction is disappointingly limited to one world and kept offscreen to focus on the main plot, which somewhat reduced the stakes. Still, this was a decent enough story with some interesting elements, and I’d still rather read it than watch The Rise of Skywalker, but there’s no denying that it fails to live up to its full potential – and the potential of Dark Jedi Luke Skywalker – in many ways.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Pretty Good
Did you enjoy Star Wars: Dark Empire? Were you excited by the concept of Luke turning to the Dark Side? Did you like that the Emperor survived through cloning? What did you think of the World Devastators and the Imperial civil war? Do you agree that Luke’s plan was flawed and sloppily executed? Which Star Wars comic was your favourite and how are you celebrating Star Wars Day today? Whatever your thoughts and memories of Dark Empire, leave a comment below and donate to my Ko-Fi if you’d like me to cover the other Dark Empire comics in the future.
Known as as Star Wars Day thanks to a clever pun (“May the Fourth be with you”), May 4th often starts a three day celebration of the influential science-fiction series.
The Review: Five years after Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi(Marquand, 1983), the galaxy has changed for better and worse. Remnants of the Galactic Empire are scattered throughout the Outer Rim where the New Republic has little jurisdiction and even less influence. Their principal figurehead here is the enigmatic and loquacious “Client” (Werner Herzog), an Imperial loyalist taking refuge (alongside a personal guard of battered Stormtroopers) on the outpost world of Nevarro. Since former magistrate Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) operates the bounty hunter guild from Nevarro, the Client has ample resources to offer a shady commission for a mysterious acquisition for purposes not revealed in this season. Dismayed at the low rewards of Greef’s other bounties, lone Mandalorian Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal/Brendan Wayne/Lateef Crowder) accepts the bounty in hopes of earning enough beskar to complete and upgrade his sacred armour and earn his signet, a representation of a great victory for himself and his clan. I’m gonna be honest and say I’ve never been a huge fan of Boba Fett (Jeremy Bulloch/Temuera Morrison), the bungling bounty hunter who wowed a generation with his cool armour and gadgets. As far as I know, he’s somehow not even a “true” Mandalorian, which I find unnecessarily ridiculous. However, I did question the logic of creating a character who is simply a Boba Fett repaint rather than basing this series around such a fan favourite character, an opinion that only strengthened when Boba Fett was canonically brought back and received his own spin-off show anyway! However, I understand the logic of presented a “blank slate” character with no fan expectations and Din Djarin (largely referred to as “Mando”) is certainly an enigmatic character. A man of few words who says a lot through subtle gestures, he owes more than a debt to the stoic “Man with No Name” (Clint Eastwood) and Shane (Alan Ladd), turning heads simply by entering rooms and impressing with his quick trigger finger and persistent nature.
The stoic bounty hunter Din Djarin’s life is changed by an adorable, Force-sensitive child.
Orphaned as a boy (Aidan Bertola) when Separatist battle droids attacked his people, Din Djarin was adopted by the Mandalorians as a “foundling”, a youngster they indoctrinated into their highly disciplined order. Under the supervision of his clan’s armorer (Emily Swallow), Din Djarin forsook his name and his past and, upon coming of age and earning his traditional helmet, vowed to never reveal his face again. Since then, Mando has been collecting counties in his ship, the Razor Crest, with stoic efficiency, earning a reputation as a feared and capable bounty hunter despite attracting some controversy amongst his people for dealing with the Empire. Years prior, the Machiavellian Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) led an assault against Mandalore that brought them to the brink of extinction, forcing the once knight-like Mandalorians into the shadows, though Mando has more of a grudge against droids since they caused him such pain as a child. Mando’s world is turned upside down when he reaches Arvala-7 and finds his target is a small child (David Acord) with mysterious powers. Just as “Baby Yoda” captured the hearts of viewers everywhere so too does this child melt Mando’s heart as he feels an immediate kinship to the baby-like creature, blasting killer droid IG-11 (Taika Waititi/Rio Hackford) through the head to protect him and later rescuing the child from Doctor Penn Pershing’s (Omid Abtahi) invasive experiments, overwhelmed by guilt after trading the boy for his coveted beskar and making an enemy of the bounty hunter guild and the Empire. Driven into exile, much of the series focuses on Mando’s attempts to protect the child and find him a safe home. He’s briefly tempted to leave the boy with kindly Omera (Julia Jones) after seeing how happy the child is amongst her people in “Chapter 4: Sanctuary” (Howard, 2019). Mando’s even tempted to remain there himself after helping free Omera’s people from the aggressive Klatooninians, only to reluctantly return to his travels with the child to avoid endangering others.
The child’s adorable nature and incredible powers see Mando set aside his prejudices to protect him.
Though he’s in the business of profit more than anything, Mando’s priorities noticeably shift once he cares for the child. He actively shields the boy from harm and others and quickly learns to have the boy be watched whenever he goes out on business. A curious, inquisitive sprite, the child test Mando’s patience by fiddling with his controls and disobeying him and yet impresses and confuses the Mandalorian with his strange powers, which see him levitating a rampaging mudhorn, healing with a touch, and choking those who threaten his surrogate father. Strangely, Mando has no knowledge of the Force or the Jedi and is thus puzzled when the Armorer charges him with watching over the child until he can be reunited with his people, whom Mandalorian legend refer to as “enemy sorcerers”. Rather than constantly trying to ditch the child or being resentful of the burden, Mando shows genuine affection for the child in his own way, letting him sit in the cockpit and keeping him close by in his little floating carriage. When convinced to use the child as bait to get close to the Client, Mando has his ally, Ugnaught mechanic Kuiil (Nick Nolte/Misty Rosas), upgrade the boy’s carriage to make him more comfortable and also demands that Kuiil spirit the child to safety when Moff Gideon attacks Nevarro. Despite his prejudice against droids and his distrust of IG-11, regardless of Kuiil’s reprogramming, Mando begrudgingly allows the former bounty hunter to protect the child and IG-11 impresses with his dedication to safeguarding the boy, gunning down any who threaten the child and even sacrificing his life to ensure his safety, earning him Mando’s respect. When the child is discovered by Mando’s roguish and unscrupulous teammates in “Chapter 6: The Prisoner” (Famuyiwa, 2019), Mando tries to convince them the child is simply a pet to disguise his true meaning, though even Mando has no idea of the child’s true significance.
Though surrounded by enemies, Mando inspires the loyalty and assistance of many in the galaxy.
Despite working alone and actively shunning social interaction, Mando amasses a handful of allies on his journey. When the Razor Crest is stripped by opportunistic Jawas in “Chapter 2: The Child” (Famuyiwa, 2019), Kuiil helps negotiate the return of his stolen parts and to repair the ship, happy to assist freely and impressing Mando so much that he asks Kuiil to join him. Though Kuiil politely declines, having earned his freedom, he readily agrees to aid Mando in “Chapter 7: The Reckoning” (Chow, 2019) and ultimately gives his life trying to protect the child. Mando teams with hard-ass former Rebel Alliance shock trooper Cara Dune (Gina Carano) in “Sanctuary”, hiring her to prepare the backwater town for a gruelling assault and to down a repurposed All-Terrain Scout Transport (AT-ST) to liberate the peaceful villagers. Although Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris) helps repair the Razor Crest in “Chapter 5: The Gunslinger” (Filoni, 2019) and watch the child, she doesn’t do it for free, so Mando’s forced to help wannabe bounty hunter Toro Calican (Jake Cannavale) hunt the notorious Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen), briefly giving Mando the chance to pass on some of his bounty hunter tips before being forced to gun the greedy Calican down. Mando turns to former accomplice Ran Malk (Mark Boone Junior) for work in “Chapter 6: The Prisoner” (Famuyiwa, 2019) and is reunited with Xi’an (Natalia Tena), a Twi’lek he used to run with who offers scant hints towards Mando’s chequered past. Mando immediately rubs Malk’s crew the wrong way and they quickly turn on him once they rescue Xi’an’s brother, Qin (Ismael Cruz Córdova), though Mando uses his wits to escape and get his revenge by receiving his pay and alerting the New Republic to Malk’s operation.
Despite being grievously injured by Moff Gideon, Mando sets off on a new journey as a surrogate father.
We learn very little of Mando’s past in this series. He speaks even less and stubbornly follows the strict Mandalorian code, always keeping his cards close to his chest and letting his actions speak for him. This makes him a very honourable character, one who pays his debts and fights to protect the defenceless as much as he tracks down wayward bounties. This code of honour is exactly why Greef sets aside his grudge and asks Mando for aid when the Client overruns Nevarro and threatens his operation, offering to wipe Mando’s record if he assassinates the Imperial. Despite the danger, Mando recruits Kuiil and Dune, begrudgingly allowing the reprogrammed IG-11 to join their makeshift team and devise a plan to get close to the Client. Out of gratitude for the child saving his life, Greef reveals he planned to double-cross them and they devise a ruse to have Dune bring the captive Mando to the Client alongside the child’s empty carrier, sure that they can dispatch the Client’s Stormtroopers. Things quickly go south when the Client has more bodyguards than they expected and when Moff Gideon suddenly attacks alongside his Deathtroopers, cornering Mando, Dune, and Greef until IG-11 evens the odds. Grievously wounded in the firefight, Mando demands that Dune get the child to safety and expects IG-11 to revert to his original programming. Instead, IG-11 gingerly removes Mando’s helmet to tend to his wound, allowing Mando to reunite with the Armorer and receive his signet and jetpack to essentially earn his full stripes. Thanks to IG-11’s sacrifice, the group escapes through an underground lava river and, thanks to his jetpack, Mando brings down Moff Gideon’s Twin-Ion Engine (TIE) Fighter. Although a grateful Greef offers to reinstate Mando into the bounty hunter guild, he decides to live up to the new mission bestowed upon him by the Armorer to find the child’s people, returning to the stars having accepted his role as the boy’s father-figure and unaware that Moff Gideon not only survived the crash but possesses an awful black-tinted lightsaber!
Final Thoughts: I’ll be the first to admit that I wasn’t a big fan of the Sequel Trilogy, which largely relied on nostalgia, retreading ground from the Original Trilogy, and was crippled by a series of narrative and character blunders that left a bad taste in my mouth. I much preferred the standalone spin-off films, though all of Disney’s Star Wars features impressed by incorporating more traditional special effects wherever possible. This is especially true of The Mandalorian, which utilises real sets, props, and costumes alongside a bunch of puppets and animatronics to capture the spirit of the Original Trilogy (especially prior to them being digitally enhanced). Even better, The Mandalorian wisely shifts its focus from a galaxy-wide conflict to tell a far more grounded story focused on the titular Mandalorian and his journey and showing a side of the Star Wars world we’ve never seen in live-action. I loved the idea that the galaxy was still dangerous even with the New Republic in charge, that the Outer Rim especially suffered from the fall of the Empire and that crime lords and Imperial remnants took advantage of the chaos to set up their own empires and schemes. There’s definitely a greater plot happening in the background concerning the Client, Moff Gideon, and Baby Yoda, but we have no idea what it is here and that adds to the intrigue surrounding the child. Personally, I like seeing the Empire reduced to a rag-tag group of trigger happy, shadowy extremists forced to scrabble together a comeback. I also really liked seeing the Empire depicted as a significant threat. Stormtroopers were seen as formidable in groups, a single AT-ST was an insurmountable obstacle, and Moff Gideon’s lone TIE Fighter had Mando and the others pinned down in “Chapter 8: Redemption” (Waititi, 2019). This showed a glimpse of the true horror and danger the Empire represented to average people, whose lives were left destroyed by the Empire’s destructive ways.
Channelling classic Western anti-heroes, Mando is a flawed but incredibly charismatic character.
While I still think the show could’ve been reconfigured to focus on Boba Fett without much changing, Din Djarin is a worthy substitute for the fan favourite bounty hunter. A striking, charismatic figure resplendent in his silver armour and sporting loads of nifty gadgets, such as a flamethrower, grapple hook, and his heavy-duty Amban phase-pulse blaster, the Mandalorian is every bit the stoic gunslinger of classic Westerns. His boots and armour even sound like spurs and “Chapter 4: Sanctuary” (Howard, 2019) is an obvious homage to Shane (Stevens, 1953), with the nomadic bounty hunter aiding a small village against an oppressive enemy and leaving behind the chance of personal happiness for their own protection. Pedro Pascal and his body doubles do fantastic work with Mando, who conveys a great deal of emotion through subtle body and head movements and tonal inflections. Mando evolves considerably across this season, beginning as a tough but fair bounty hunter looking only to complete his armour and transforming into a protective father figure and defender of the innocent, even attempting to calm tensions in “Chapter 6: The Prisoner” to avoid unnecessary bloodshed and moving past his hatred of droids by bonding with IG-11. Mando commands much respect, fear, and hostility in others but never seems bothered by it. He’s as quick on the draw as he is to pay for people’s services and steadfastly adheres to the Mandalorian creed, never removing his helmet around others and following a strict code of honour since “this is the way”. As impressive and memorable as Mando is, though, it’s the child who steals the show here. A disgustingly cute, pixie-like baby, the child raises so many questions regarding his origins and destiny and directly changes Mando’s ways for the better. He’s also incredibly adorable, curious, and capable, utilising the Force to protect and defend others and capturing the hearts of all around him even when he’s swallowing live frogs!
A wonderfully tactile and engaging series that got Star Wars back on track for many.
The attention to detail in the sets, costumes, and visuals are beyond impressive here. While I was disappointed to return to Tatooine and that Arvala-7 was a similarly uninteresting desert world, such locations are used sparingly in favour of dingy, disreputable bars, flourishing jungle worlds, and other corners of the galaxy rarely seen in live-action Star Wars. I loved the personal stakes that drove the show, with Mando eager to earn his jetpack and a greater status within his clan, and the mystery surrounding everything. We get snippets of backstory into the Mandalorians, an almost religious order driven to near extinction not unlike the Jedi, breadcrumbs of Mando’s past exploits and dubious nature, and are left to speculate on what the remnants of the Empire want with Baby Yoda. This intrigue is only exacerbated by the mysterious figure who approaches the seemingly lifeless Fennec Shand and is beautifully married with some explosive and enjoyable action sequences. I especially liked the scuffle between Mando and Dune, seeing them hustle the Sorgan village into fledgling fighters, and watching Mando tangle with beasts and mercenaries alike, often coming out worse for wear despite his fancy armour. Fights, shootouts, and space battles have so much more weight thanks to the models and practical effects and the show allowing us to spend time getting to know Mando and his supporting cast and The Mandalorian went a long way to show just how rich and varied Star Wars is. Even now, this first season stands as some of the best Star Wars content, offering a bunch of new merchandise and endlessly quotable lines for the fandom. It advances the narrative in interesting ways, introducing an enigmatic gunslinger-esque main character who’s easy to root for, and plants the seeds for future seasons, conflicts, and storylines that potentially lead into the more maligned Sequel Trilogy.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Fantastic
Did you enjoy the first season of The Mandalorian? Were you disappointed that it didn’t focus on Boba Fett or do you prefer Din Djarin to that doofus? Did Baby Yoda capture your heart, too? Were you a fan of the references to classic Westerns? Did you enjoy exploring a darker corner of the Star Wars universe? Which of the Disney+ Star Wars shows is your favourite and how are you celebrating Star Wars today? Let me know your thoughts on The Mandalorian in the comments and donate to my Ko-Fi if you want to see more reviews of the Disney+ Star Wars shows.
While May 4th is known the world over as Star Wars Day, many also choose to extend the celebrations of the course of three days, with one of them being the “Evil Star Wars Day” of May 6th (as in “Sith”).
Air Date: 27 May 2022 to 22 June 2022 Network: Disney+ Director: Deborah Chow Stars: Ewan McGregor, Vivien Lyra Blair, Moses Ingram, Rupert Friend, Jimmy Smits, and Hayden Christensen/James Earl Jones
The Background: In 1977, George Lucas introduced audiences to his pulp sci-fi “space opera” with Star Wars (or Episode IV: A New Hope), which became a near-immediate phenomenon not just at the time, bit for generations. Star Wars achieved this not just through toys, videogames, comics, and novels, but Lucas returning the franchise to the big screen with a prequel trilogy. Though largely seen as inferior to the Original Trilogy thanks to an overreliance on CGI and some questionable performances and dialogue, the Prequel Trilogy was financially successful and has since earned a generation of apologists, with Ewan McGregor’s portrayal of Obi-Wan Kenobi attracting much praise. Accordingly, after Disney acquired the franchise and began producing a new trilogy and spin-off films, talk of an Obi-Wan venture circulated after McGregor expressed interest in reprising the role. Though initially planned as a feature film, the project was re-tooled into a six-episode miniseries after the financial failure of Solo: A Star Wars Story (Howard, 2018) and the critical acclaim of the Disney+-exclusive series, The Mandalorian (2019 to 2023). Eager to explore a more downtrodden version of the titular character, McGregor was ecstatic to be working with Hayden Christensen once more. Christensen leapt at the chance to don the iconic helmet once more and the two were digitally de-aged for a flashback sequence. Pitched as a story about Obi-Wan confronting his past, Obi-Wan Kenobi also explored Princess Leia’s childhood and straddled a fine line between telling its own story and staying true to established canon. Premiering as the most-watched Disney+ original series (at the time) and also one of the most pirated shows, Obi-Wan Kenobi received critical acclaim that praised McGregor’s performance and the emotional reunion between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader. While the action and old-school atmosphere were also praised, some plot elements were ridiculed and the show was criticised for relying too heavily on nostalgia. Still, despite some horrendous racist reactions, the award-winning show was accompanied by a tie-in comic series and McGregor was optimistic about reprising the role again in the near future.
The Plot: Ten years after the destruction of the Jedi and the rise of the Galactic Empire, former Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi (McGregor) hides on Tatooine. When called to rescue Princess Leia Organa (Blair), Obi-Wan is drawn into a confrontation with his former Padawan, Anakin Skywalker, now the ruthless Sith Lord: Darth Vader (Christensen/Jones).
The Review: Obi-Wan Kenobi is a six-part miniseries set some ten years after Revenge of the Sith. Accordingly, the malevolent Galactic Empire dominates the galaxy, enforcing martial law across numerous worlds, stationing their nameless, faceless Stormtroopers to harass and intimidate the populace, and ravaging the natural resources of every world they control. Life is tough for many ordinary civilians as they’re either persecuted, deprived of basic needs such as food and credits, or brainwashed into believing that the Empire is a benevolent organisation bringing order to the galaxy. Thus, we see a few different ends of the spectrum in Obi-Wan Kenobi, with friendly, ordinary civilians like Freck (Zach Braff) praising the influence of the Empire, downtrodden, forgotten Clone Troopers (Temuera Morrison) left begging in the streets, senators like Bail Organa (Smits) trying to politically influence opinion away from the Empire, and Imperial offers like Tala Durith (Indira Varma) being disgusted by the Empire’s tyrannical ways. To make matters worse, Emperor Sheev Palpatine’s (Ian McDiarmid) oppression of the Jedi Order saw not only Jedi and their Younglings mercilessly slaughtered by Clone Troopers as part of “Order 66”, but the continued hunting and eradication of any surviving Jedi or Force-sensitive individuals by Darth Vader and his determined, ruthless Inquisitors. While Darth Vader and his cohorts, who were once Jedi before turning to the Dark Side, successfully identify their prey, either by intimidating, threatening, or out-right killing the locals, their true quarry, the elusive and titular Obi-Wan Kenobi, has eluded them for ten years. Like many Jedi, Obi-Wan has accomplished this not only by hiding away on a backwater planet (in this case, Tatooine) but by suppressing his Force abilities. When confronted by desperate Jedi survivor Nari (Benny Safdie) in “Part I”, Obi-Wan strongly advises him to follow his example, literally burying his former life in the desert and refraining from helping others with the Force, advice that Nari doesn’t heed and results in his public execution.
Haunted by his past, a reluctant Obi-Wan ventures out to protect Leia and confront his greatest failure.
Traumatised by the horrific events that saw his former Padawan, Anakin Skywalker, be seduced by the Dark Side and slaughter his fellow Jedi, Obi-Wan has hidden away on Tatooine, taking the “clever” alias “Ben” and eking out a menial living, with only Owen and Beru Lars (Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse) aware of his true identity. Although Obi-Wan regularly attempts to commune with the spirit of his old master, Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson), he receives no answer, largely because he’s lost his connection to the Force after a decade of suppressing his abilities and after seeing first-hand the downfall of the Jedi Order. Haunted (literally and figuratively) by the screams and suffering of his former Padawan, Obi-Wan is a shell of his former self who uses his promise to watch over Anakin’s son, young Luke Skywalker (Grant Feely), as an excuse to stay hidden, despite Owen warning him to stay away lest he fail the boy as he failed his father. However, when Reva Sevander (Ingram), an ambitious Inquisitor known as the Third Sister obsessed with gaining Darth Vader’s favour, hires bounty hunters to kidnap young Princess Leia, Obi-Wan is forced back into the fight at the desperate request of Bail, Leia’s adopted father and Obi-Wan’s old Republic ally. While he’s hesitant to answer the call, feeling old and useless and afraid of drawing undue attention, Obi-Wan ultimately agrees since Leia, as Luke’s sister, is just as important to any future hope of opposing the Empire. Thus, Obi-Wan leaves Tatooine with only his wiles and some rusty Jedi tricks to guide him. Obi-Wan finds himself in a galaxy that’s largely lost its way, full of disreputables like fake Jedi Haja Estree (Kumail Nanjiani), bounty hunters like Vect Nokru (Flea), and meek civilians afraid of Darth Vader’s wrath. While Obi-Wan carries his lightsaber, he mostly favours a blaster and avoids using the Force lest he compromise his position. However, he is ultimately forced to take up both to safeguard Leia and defend the innocent, finding that the spark of hope is still alive, if faded, in the unruly galaxy.
Headstrong Leia defiantly resists torture and restores Obi-Wan’s hope for the future.
Because of Obi-Wan’s reluctance to use the Force, the stubborn, adventurous, headstrong Leia is initially very wary of him. Already something of a spoiled and reckless child, Leia finds politics boring and desires to find her own path, but is incredibly defiant and brave even when faced with the likes of the Third Sister. Leia never stops to fight back, resisting her captors at any opportunity, and is incredibly insightful. She has a unique way of reading people, even after only just meeting them, and isn’t afraid to speak her mind. Having lived a sheltered life on Alderaan, Leia is naïve to the dangers of the galaxy and walks head-first into situations thinking the best of everyone, confident that she can charm or talk her way out of most situations. Her surprisingly intuitive demeanour impresses Obi-Wan, as she’s wise beyond her years in many ways, but he’s also quick to shield her from growing up too fast and being exposed to violence before she’s ready to put her feisty spirit to good use as a natural leader. Leia and Obi-Wan’s relationship is a true highlight of Obi-Wan Kenobi; I loved her inquisitive nature and how she criticised him at times. It’s also heartbreaking to see Obi-Wan’s reaction to her, as she reminds him of Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman) in mind, body, and spirit, bringing further pain to the wizened Jedi Master since he was unable to keep Padmé from Anakin’s destructive downfall. Adorable and enthusiastic, Leia relishes the chance to be on an adventure, though recognises that she’s in over her head and caused trouble by disobeying her parents. She eventually bonds with Obi-Wan, querying his sullen demeanour and learning of the tragedies he’s witnessed, and also connects with Tala, who inspires her rebellious attitude. Leia’s stubbornness sees her defy even the Third Sister’s cruel interrogation; resisting the Inquisitor’s attempts to probe her mind with the Force, Leia refuses to sell out her allies even when faced with torture. Similarly, Leia comes to care for Obi-Wan so deeply that she begs Tala to help him when he chooses to face Darth Vader to cover her escape, and eventually sets herself on the path to forging her own identity as a diplomat and a fighter thanks to Tala’s sacrifice and Obi-Wan’s influence, especially as he passes on knowledge of her true parents.
Obi-Wan’s traumatic past with Anakin sees him reluctant to trust his new allies.
While Obi-Wan is faced with danger at every turn, he gains some notable allies in his quest. Naturally distrustful following his traumatic past, Obi-Wan initially tries to keep a low profile and sway suspicion with flimsy cover stories. However, after the Third Sister puts a bounty on his head, Obi-Wan’s forced out of the shadows and to slowly reconnect with the Force and his lightsaber, which means making new allies to escaping Darth Vader and the Inquisitors. His first port of call is Haja, a con man who fakes being a Jedi for credits but who’s inspired by meeting a real Jedi to aid Obi-Wan, eventually watching out for Leia as the Jedi Master confronts Darth Vader. Despite seemingly leading him on a wild goose chase, Haja also puts Obi-Wan in contact with Tala, a disillusioned Imperial officer trying to atone for the blood on her hands by secretly smuggling Jedi and other Imperial targets to safety through an underground resistance network known as “The Path”. Tala’s Imperial authority guides Obi-Wan through the Fortress Inquisitorius to rescue Leia, where he discovers, to his horror, the preserved corpses of slain Jedi in the temple. It’s through Tala that Obi-Wan meets Kawlan Roken (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) and reaffirms his status as a defender of the innocent since Obi-Wan willingly surrenders to cover their escape, though Tala is unfortunately killed during the Imperial assault in “Part V”. Obi-Wan’s reluctance to trust others stems not just from his need to stay hidden, but also from being burned by Anakin’s betrayal. The wonders of modern de-aging technology provide a flashback to Obi-Wan’s younger days, when he duelled with the upstart Anakin and tried to emphasise the need to temper his aggression and desire to prove himself in favour of defending others. Thanks to competent writing and direction, Hayden Christensen gets a chance to shine as the conflicted Anakin, who’s torn between showing his superiority and obeying his master. Despite Anakin’s exuberance in the duel, the two are painted as close brothers, making the pain of Anakin’s turn only sting more. This feeds into Obi-Wan’s guilt and the fear he feels whenever Darth Vader is present since Obi-Wan doesn’t want to see the monster his former protégé has become, much less be forced to kill him.
Reva’s ambition to punish Darth Vader is mirrored in Vader’s obsession with destroying Obi-Wan.
While all Jedi are relentlessly hunted by the Inquisitors, Obi-Wan is specifically targeted by the Third Sister against the orders of the Grand Inquisitor (Friend) and her rival, the Fifth Brother (Sung Kang). While the Grand Inquisitor enjoys a good monologue, intimidating locals into giving up any Jedi amongst them, the Third Sister prefers a more direct approach, publicly executing and maiming people to force the Jedi out. Constantly reprimanded for her reckless ways, the Third Sister’s ambition to impress Darth Vader by delivering his former master sees her seemingly kill the Grand Inquisitor and take his place, gaining Darth Vader’s favour and leading the operation to hunt Obi-Wan down. Reva’s ambition is seeped in hatred of both the Jedi and her dark master since, as a Youngling (Ayaamii Sledge), she witnessed Anakin’s massacre and has pledged to destroy him. Obi-Wan initially sways her into allying with him, providing her with the distraction to attempt an execution, only for Darth Vader to grievously wound her thanks to the surviving Grand Inquisitor. Desperate, the Third Sister heads to Tatooine to slaughter Luke and his family but ultimately spares the boy when she realises she’s in danger of becoming the same monster as Anakin. Strong in the Force and wielding red lightsabers, the Inquisitors inspire fear through their mere presence. This is, surprisingly, echoed in the Stormtroopers, who are far more competent and menacing than usual, especially due to their sheer numbers and Obi-Wan’s rusty Jedi skills. These skills are tested when Obi-Wan inevitably crosses paths with Darth Vader, with the Dark Lord slaughtering and torturing innocents to bait his old master and humbling Obi-Wan during their first, brutal encounter. Here, Darth Vader toys with his prey, dragging Obi-Wan through fire to inflict a measure of the same pain he caused him. In their second encounter, Obi-Wan is far more confident and capable, though Darth Vader’s fury, raw power, and tempered skill still overwhelmed him. After being buried beneath a cave-in, Obi-Wan fully regains his connection to the Force and bombards Darth Vader with debris, damaging his mask and breathing apparatus and leading to a dramatic confrontation between the two. Here, Obi-Wan is distraught to see his scarred former pupil is beyond salvation and, after Vader takes credit for killing Anakin, Obi-Wan leaves him to his suffering, now fully convinced that Anakin Skywalker is dead and that only Darth Vader remains.
The Summary: As a big fan of Ewan McGregor’s performance s Obi-Wan Kenobi, I’m ashamed at how long it took me to get to his long-awaited self-title series. McGregor shines as the haunted, wary former Jedi Master, easily slipping right back into the role and further echoing Alec Guinness’s original portrayal of the character as an older, wiser, and far less physically capable character. In Obi-Wan Kenobi, Obi-Wan is tormented by guilt and PTSD, haunted by nightmares of Anakin’s downfall and weighed down by his failure to save his apprentice, which he believes cost the lives of countless innocents and Jedi. When Bail calls, Obi-Wan insists that he’s not the right man for the job and, to be fair, he’s not completely wrong. Constantly called out for his age and initially struggling so much to call upon the Force that it exhausts and even pains him, Obi-Wan is a far cry from the confident, commanding General he once was. However, this old dog still has a few tricks up his sleeve. He’s handy with a blaster and some of his Jedi training still remains in a fist fight, allowing him to survive most scuffles, even if he lacks the finesse he once had. He’s somewhat overconfident when he first faces Darth Vader, though it’s more that he’s forced into a lightsaber duel to protect Leia and other innocents. His form is sloppy and weak, as criticised by Darth Vader, and Obi-Wan surely would’ve died if not for Tala’s timely intervention. Though he’s still a step behind his twisted opponent in his second encounter, Obi-Wan is much more formidable and regains much of his former strength through both their duel and the closure given to him by Darth Vader’s assertion that Anakin is dead. This, as much as rediscovering his compassion for others and seeing the flame of hope still flickering in the galaxy, brings Obi-Wan enough inner peace to finally strengthen his connection to the Force. This allows him to commune with his long-dead master, Qui-Gon, effectively laying the foundation for Obi-Wan’s later adventure with the Rebellion.
Obi-Wan Kenobi gives returning actors a chance to revisit their characters and relationships.
As great as Obi-Wan was here, Obi-Wan Kenobi goes a long way to making up for some of the Prequel Trilogy’s many shortcomings. Jimmy Smits gives a magnetic performance as the concerned and desperate Bail, who has a lovely relationship with Leia where he encourages her mischievous ways as well as a brotherly bond with Obi-Wan that sees him turn to the burned-out Jedi in his time of need. We get more of an idea of how devastating Order 66 was, not just through Obi-Wan’s nightmares but Reva’s descriptions and flashbacks, which depict Anakin as a monster who turned on his own people and mercilessly slaughtered children. This memory is as traumatic for Reva as it is Obi-Wan, fuelling her hatred of the Jedi for allowing it to happen and of the Dark Lord for committing the act. Obi-Wan Kenobi brings Hayden Christensen back not just as a digitally de-aged Anakin but as Darth Vader, bolstered by an AI-rendition of the late, great James Earl Jones’s booming voice. Depicted as a scarred, maimed tyrant, Darth Vader relentlessly pursues Obi-Wan even against other, more pressing concerns. He fuels the Third Sister’s lust for power by promoting her under pain of death if she fails and doesn’t hesitate to strike her down when she tries to assassinate him. When confronting Obi-Wan, Darth Vader is disgusted by the state of his master and easily overpowers him, relishing the chance to inflict pain upon the one he blames for his condition. Although I don’t mind Hayden, he was always a weak-link in the Prequel Trilogy; however, Obi-Wan Kenobi proves this was largely because of the awful direction and script he was saddled with. Here, Anakin is a twisted and embittered man consumed by anger and vengeance. Seeing his helmet damaged, his voice box malfunctioning, and the pure animosity in his eyes as he denounces both Obi-Wan and his former life is a truly stirring (if familiar) moment that goes a long way to make up for George Lucas’s clunky dialogue.
Obi-Wan’s dramatic journey sees him rekindle his connection to the Force and the wider galaxy.
Though Obi-Wan relies more on his blaster and his wits, Obi-Wan Kenobi features some decent chases, action scenes, and space battles. The show primarily goes out of its way to depict Stormtroopers as a true threat, which I really enjoyed, and to hammer home how desperate the situation is for the few remaining Jedi and those who would oppose the Empire. The lightsaber action is as thrilling as we saw in the Prequel Trilogy, now given an extra edge through the Inquisitors’ lust to eliminate all Jedi and Darth Vader’s desire to make his former master suffer. Not only that, but I really enjoyed Leia’s portrayal here. She echoes both her mother and her older self in her stubborn, outspoken nature and I enjoyed the dichotomy of her as a naïve but rebellious child who wanted an adventure but was strong enough to resist torture. Her relationship with Obi-Wan was equally adorable and emotional as Leia only causes Obi-Wan further pain because of his failures. These see him become obsessed with watching over Luke, whom Owen aggressively shields to keep him from taking even a single step down the same path his father took. Obi-Wan’s reluctance to leave the boy and embark on some damn, fool adventure turns out to be just what the downtrodden former Jedi needed since Leia shows him that there’s hope for the future. This is only further emboldened through Obi-Wan’s interactions with Tala and Roken, rebellious spirits who place themselves in mortal danger to save who they can and are principal figureheads in the fledgling Rebellion. Forced to literally confront his past, his demons, and his greatest failure, Obi-Wan rediscovers himself and accepts that Anakin is truly lost, ending the miniseries in a stronger position to prepare for the future since he’s no longer haunted by the past. Overall, I really enjoyed Obi-Wan Kenobi. It’s a bit wonky in some ways since I never suspected that Obi-Wan left his exile on Tatooine much less had an encounter with Leia or a rematch with Darth Vader, but the miniseries is clearly positioned as a love letter to the Prequel Trilogy and, in that respect, it succeeds. With fantastic performances from the new and returning cast, there’s a lot to like here and it does a great job of further bridging the gap between the two trilogies and sowing the seeds for future appearances of the likes of the Skywalkers, the Inquisitors, and the Dark Lord himself.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Great Stuff
Did you enjoy Obi-Wan Kenobi? Were you excited to see Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen return to their iconic roles? What did you think to Obi-Wan’s character arc and his depiction as a traumatised former Jedi? Did you enjoy the brutal rematch between him and Darth Vader or did it irk you to see them interact prior to the Original Trilogy? What did you think to Leia, her gusto and bravado, and the allies they made in their journey? Are you a fan of the Inquisitors? Would you like to see other character-specific Star Wars spin-offs? I’d love to see your thoughts on Obi-Wan Kenobi in the comments below, so drop them there, support me on Ko-Fi, and go check out my other Star Wars content.
Although May 4th is known the world over as Star Wars Day, many also choose to celebrate the popular, generation-spanning science-fiction saga on May 5th as a play on the word “Sith”. This can extend Star Wars Day into three day celebration of the influential science-fiction series and, as a result, is another great excuse for Star Wars fans to celebrate the beloved franchise in a variety of ways.
Released: 2 December 1996 Developer: LucasArts Also Available For: PC
The Background: Now known as a nigh-unstoppable multimedia juggernaut that encompasses movies, toys, cartoons, books, videogames, and comics, the original Star Wars trilogy was initially continued in the “Legends” novels. Accordingly, Lucasfilm’s publishing director, Lucy Autrey Wilson, tapped Bantam editor Lou Aronica and author Steve Perry to develop a Star Wars crossover multimedia event in 1994. The project wouldn’t include a movie but would involve all the media and marketing of a film release, all to coincide with the upcoming release of the 1997 Special Editions of the Original Trilogy. Shadows of the Empire took place between Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back(Kershner, 1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (Marquand, 1983) and was comprised of Perry’s novel, a comic book, an extensive toy line, and this divisivevideogame. The game focused on Han Solo-proxy Dash Rendar and was built on a modified version of the Star Wars: Dark Forces (LucasArts, 1995) engine. The decision to focus on Nintendo 64 development led to some issues in properly coding for the system, Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto weighed in on the camera and Dash’s characterisation, and all the animations had to be redone manually after Industrial Light & Magic’s motion capture work proved unusable. As mentioned, Shadows of the Empire garnered mixed reviews that noted a strong start let down by subsequent levels. The dodgy camera, clunky controls, and tedious gameplay were also criticised, though it developed a cult following over the years and the PC version was said to iron out some of the kinks. Unfortunately, Shadows of the Empire was de-canonised after Disney purchased the franchise, though Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy once stated that characters like Dash Rendar have come up during discussions about Star Wars projects.
The Plot: Hired to protect troubled Jedi Luke Skywalker and assist in rescuing Han Solo, rogue mercenary Dash Rendar finds himself embroiled in pitched battles with not only the Galactic Empire, but a criminal organisation looking to usurp the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader.
Gameplay and Power-Ups: Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire is primarily an action/platformer videogame that released early into the Nintendo 64’s lifecycle and takes place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. After picking and naming one of four save files (with no need for a memory pak) and selecting their level of difficulty, players assume the role of mercenary for hire and Han Solo-proxy Dash Rendar and journey across ten levels to defend the Rebel Alliance from the evil Galactic Empire, safeguard young Jedi Luke Skywalker, and oppose the mischievous ambitions of the Black Sun criminal empire. Once you’ve chosen a difficulty level, you can’t change it so you’ll need to start a new save file if, say, “Medium” is too difficult for you. You can enter the “Options” menu to customise the heads-up display (HUD), which displays your current health and weapon energy or ammo, as well as toggle the option to switch to following your heat-seeking missiles and customise the game’s controls. Shadows of the Empire maps different buttons to different functions depending on the level you’re playing; while six levels see you control Dash on foot, two take place in space, one sees you controlling a Snowspeeder, and another has you racing around on a swoop bike. When on foot, you can change your viewpoint with the Left trigger, directional pad (D-pad), or C-right, switching between a standard third-person view, a first-person perspective, a top-down view, and a dynamic “movie” angle that hampers the already cumbersome controls. The Right trigger opens doors and activates consoles and you can hold it to strafe which, when used alongside the Z trigger, gives you better aiming accuracy. You jump with A and, when you have a jetpack, can burn rocket fuel by holding this button. B fires your weapon, with Dash’s standard blaster automatically recharging but growing weaker the more you use it. You switch weapons with C-up, crouch to take cover or avoid incoming hazards with C-down, and hold C-right to activate the “Leebo Scanner” (if you collect enough “Challenge Points”), which essentially functions as a map.
Press switches, uncontrollably fly across gaps, and wrestle with Dash’s jetpack to clear levels.
While Dash’s default blaster and jetpack automatically refill if given time, you must blast crates and search around the environment for additional ammo. You get a useful heat-seeking shot that are good for taking out groups of enemies at mid-range, a flamethrower for close encounters, a quick-fire pulse cannon that’s annoyingly erratic, a stun shot to freeze enemies, and a powerful disruptor blast that’ll damage you if you’re not careful! Health packs of different sizes can be found if you open nooks and crannies, search around, or blow open crates. You’ll also find the odd extra life and invincibility if you look hard enough, and you’ll earn additional extra lives for every Challenge Point you find. Much of your time in Shadows of the Empire is spent running around narrow corridors, samey environments, or the odd slightly more open areas. Every time you control Dash on foot, you’re charged with exploring, gunning down enemies, and activating a butt-load of switches. These open doors, release Wampas to attack enemies (and you!), allow you to take elevators to other floors, and lower barriers so you can progress. Dash is ridiculously awkward to control, lumbering about as though you were using tank controls, and easily slipping off ledges. His jump is unnecessarily floaty and carries his momentum forward, meaning it’s easy to miss platforms and overshoot your jumps and be sent plummeting to your doom. This is especially aggravating in the Ord Mantell Junkyard, where players must jump between trains and duck under hazards, switching tracks and hoping they don’t overshoot their landing. It’s equally tough controlling Dash with his jetpack, not just because he flies around as if covered in grease, but you must constantly land to recharge your thrusters and the game doesn’t make it clear which way you need to go, meaning it’s easy to get turned around. Although the jetpack doesn’t run out underwater, you’ll drown if you stay submerged for too long. Dash also takes fall damage, must use floating and/or spinning platforms to progress, and must avoid hazards like icequakes, wall and ceiling turrets, spinning blades, and rotating cogs.
While vehicle sections are a nice change of pace, they’re too short or aggravating to be that enjoyable.
Things aren’t much easier when you’re playing the game’s handful of vehicle sections. You start off recreating the battle of Hoth in a Snowspeeder, using L or R to decrease your speed, A to speed up, B to fire upon Imperial Probe Droids and All-Terrain Scout Transports (AT-STs), and snagging All-Terrain Armoured Transports (AT-ATs) with your tow cable with Z. Though you can switch perspectives with C-right and the D-pad, it’s best to stay in third-person mode here as the Snowspeeder is surprisingly heavy and unresponsive. It’s hard to make tight turns and easy to accidentally plough into enemies or catch yourself on an AT-AT’s legs as you circle them to bring them down. Dash escapes Hoth in the Millennium FalconOutrider, getting caught in an asteroid field just like in The Empire Strikes Back. This level is more like a bonus round where you blast waves of Twin-Ion Engine (TIE) Fighters and TIE Bombers with A or B, take out asteroids for Challenge Points, and waiting for your stock of missiles to recharge so you can blow up groups of TIEs with C-down, C-left, R, or Z. Using C-right or L to switch to the cockpit view can be advantageous here, though you can’t replenish the Outrider’s shields so don’t dawdle too long. In the final stage, you repeat this section in the first half and then race away from the exploding Skyhook, using A to accelerate and tilt your craft to avoid obstacles and R to decelerate. Finally, when on Tatooine, Dash must race against and take out a swoop bike gang looking to assassinate Luke, a task easier said than done since the swoop bike is a nightmare to control! You blast off at break-neck speed at the mere touch of A or C-left, crashing into anything and everything in your way and awkwardly reversing with B when you inevitably get caught on environment. You can switch viewpoints with C-right or the D-pad and must use L or R (or Z) to ram into the other bikers to keep them away from Luke. Even if you take them out in Mos Eisley, it’s easy to crash and burn in Beggar’s Cannon thanks to the high-speed action and narrow passages.
Dash’s simple objectives are compounded by clunky controls and frustrating gameplay.
Each level has a specific mission, related by Luke or Dash’s robot partner, Leebo, though gameplay mainly amounts to blasting enemies and activating switches. In the first and final stages, Rogue Squadron fight beside you and you must be careful not to hit them, or the shield generator on Hoth, or you’ll be penalised. An onscreen radar helps guide you in the flying and chase sections but, by default, you have no such help when on foot so it’s best to follow the bodies you leave behind if you get lost. Dash must take lifts and cross bridges, watching his step to reach new areas and activate switches, often while being forced to complete platforming challenges that look easy but are made far too frustrating thanks to his janky jump. As if this wasn’t bad enough in the Ord Mantell Junkyard, you also have to blast targets to lower barriers and hop onto carriage roofs to progress, and you’ll often be flying blind in Gall Spaceport thanks to the awful fog effects. This level is where ethe gameplay loop really starts to become tiresome and claustrophobic, maze-like locations like the Imperial Freighter Suprosa and Xizor’s Palace don’t make this any easier. You’ll find Stormtroopers and tough-as-nail robots lurking around every corner, shootouts in narrow corridors, switches that open alternating doors, forked paths, spinning turbines, and a labyrinth of cargo bays. This even carries through to the dank sewers of the Imperial City, where spiral chasms lead to murky sewage water that hides Dianogas and yet more switches! You must navigate this ugly-ass brick and filth maze to acquire an access key and force field deactivator, shooting targets in spinning tunnel to progress and dodging spinning spokes in narrow pipe to reach the end. Bottomless pits dog you throughout Hoth and the Gall Spaceport, but also return in Xizor’s Palace as a cheap way to up the difficulty of the end game. While you get infinite lives on “Easy” mode, “Medium” or higher limit your lives to make the game even tougher, though it’s a challenge and a half even on “Easy due to the clunky controls, Dash’s overly enthusiastic jump, and his struggles to aim upwards!
Presentation: As Shadows of the Empire was an early Nintendo 64 title, your mileage may very regarding the presentation. There’s no question that the PC version had better, crisper graphics, especially for the game’s cutscenes, however I do like the artwork used for these cutscenes in the Nintendo 64 version. They’re incredible basic, barely having any animation and relying entirely on text to convey the story, but they’re beautifully rendered and capture the likenesses of familiar characters like Luke and Han really well. As the main character, Dash gets more time to shine here than in the comic book, showcasing an arrogant bravado and his commitment to aiding the Rebellion (for the right price). The game is divided into “parts”, which each part using the traditional Star Wars scroll to give an overview of the story, and is bolstered by samples of John Williams’ many Star Wars compositions. The “Imperial March” is mixed into the boss theme, for example, and “The Asteroid Field!” blares during the Outrider segments, but original compositions such as “Xizor’s Palace” also impressed despite some getting repetitive. While Shadows of the Empire does use some limited sound bites (Dash grunts and Stormtroopers yell basic demands), Dash is an awful polygonal model with little character beyond occasionally firing his blaster like a six-shooter. Many of the enemies don’t fare much better, being a mess of childish polygons from even mid-view and proving why the game relies so heavily on obscuring fog. This is at its worst in the Gall Spaceport and when navigating the murky sewer waters, where visibility is near zero, though the game doesn’t exactly make up for it in the Outrider sections, opting to use a plain black void or a distinctly blurry asteroid skybox. Yet, the game performs fairly well (save for some instances where you get a peak outside of the game map), with enemy bodies remaining visible, the HUD changing colour as you take damage, and some fun Easter Eggs.
Despite being visually faithful to the films, the game’s visuals struggle, even on the PC.
These are mainly seen in familiar locations. Echo Base, for example, sports the shield generator, sees the Millennium Falcon flee for the asteroid belt, and even includes the captive Wampas from a deleted scene. You’ll spot Imperial shuttles waiting in shuttle bays, Star Destroyers loom in the background in space (though they pose no threat), Mos Eisley spaceport and market rushes past in impressive detail, and Imperial locations like the Suprosa and their multiple outposts recreate the aesthetic of the various Star Destroyers and the Death Stars with an impressive fidelity. There are some fun moments, like exploring inside the Outrider (which echoes the interior of the Falcon) and being sent away by Leebo, and opportunities to find goodies if you explore a little bit. You’ll also see the same walkways, lifts, doors, control panels, and switches as in the movies, and visit locations previously only spoken about, like Ord Mantell. Sadly, Ord Mantell is one of the weaker levels; it’s a mess of brown and junk, with rivers of sludgy water and numerous walkways to avoid. Star Fox 64 / Lylat Wars(Nintendo EAD, 1997) did a similar level far better and the same is true when comparing the space sections. The Outrider is too limited and clunky to be all that manoeuvrable and is nothing compared to the slick controls of the Arwing, with Star Fox 64 even doing Shadows’ finale far better and it didn’t release that long after this game! Unfortunately, while Shadows of the Empire goes to great lengths to recreate and build upon the visuals of the movies, everything is painfully generic at times. If you’ve seen one claustrophobic, toxic sewer full of crud, you’ve seen them all…and you can barely see this one because of the fog! I liked the sense of scale in Xizor’s Palace, however, which was very grandiose and gothic, and that the game’s performance wasn’t affected by slowdown even when large polygonal models were onscreen.
Enemies and Bosses: There isn’t much enemy variety in Shadows of the Empire, which plays things very safe for the most part. Every enemy has a % life meter that gets tougher to whittle down the bigger they are and the more you progress, and they fall into four camps: ground troops, automatons, robots, and ships. Ground troops include Stormtroopers (and their Snowtrooper variants), Imperial Commandos, and Train Guards. The Storm- and Snowtroopers blast at you haphazardly, plummeting to their deaths with a familiar scream if you shoot them just right and occasionally manning turrets to dish out greater damage. Imperial Commandos are more heavily armoured and more likely to take cover, while Train Guards are far less formidable and simply stab you with their lances. Automatons include Imperial Probe Droids, Seeker Droids, and Interrogator Droids. These float about, often rising from chasms, and blast at you, with some being harder to hit and tougher to destroy than others. You’ll also get blasted by turrets and IG Drones, which are always on hand to chip away at your health. While the Empire employs Sentry Droids (essentially killer versions of R2-D2), IG-88 and Xizor love to dog your progress with some tough-ass humanoid robots. Not only can these fire very rapidly but they can tank your basic blaster, meaning you may have to expend your better ammo to down them, ammo best saved for the game’s bosses. As for craft, you’ll blast at AT-STs in your Snowspeeder and bring down AT-ATs with your tow cable and shoot countless TIE Fighters and TIE Bombers from the void in the Outrider. These attack in groups, firing lasers or bombs, but are mere cannon fodder compared to Xizor’s more nimble Space Vipers. These are far harder to track and hit and charge up bombs that lock onto you, easily reducing the Outrider to scrap metal thanks to their seemingly endless numbers.
Some recognisable crafts and characters appear as troublesome boss encounters.
Every level but the vehicle stages ends in a boss battle (and, even then, you could classify the AT-ATs as bosses) that Dash must face on foot and with the heat-seeking function of his seeker shot disabled. The first boss you fight is an AT-ST that’s entered Echo Base. It stomps about firing its forward guns and absorbing your shots unless you target its “head”. You can use the crates and upper walkways to take the high ground and grab some resources, but your best bet is to run underneath it, aim upwards, and unload. Another AT-ST awaits in the Gall Spaceport, though this time there are no upper walkways to flee to, no resources nearby, and the jetpack is barely an advantage as it’s so slippery to control. If you manage to make it past the aggravating train section in Ord Mantell, you’ll battle the mechanical bounty hunter IG-88 in a literal scrapheap. IG-88 leaps about the place, rapidly firing his pulse cannon and being difficult to track since he disappears behind and blends into the environment. Your best bet is to stay on the move, corner him, and unload with seekers but you must watch your step or else you’ll fall into a furnace! At the end of the Gall Spaceport, you enter into a two-phase battle with Boba Fett, who flies about using his own jetpack, firing from his blaster and sending out a seeking missile. You can try chasing him, but you risk running out of jetpack thrust and taking fall damage so it’s better to take cover and wait for him to stay still. After enough hits, Boba Fett hops into Slave 1 and rotates in the centre of the arena firing his main cannons. Like with the AT-ST, you can just camp underneath him and fire upwards for an easy win. The Suprosa’s super computer is guarded by a Loader Droid that seems intimidating due to its size and the big shuttle bay devoid of resources, however it’s a bit of a joke. It’s very slow, meaning you can easily run circles around it and avoid its extendable arms, and unload with your seekers.
If you’re not playing on at least “Medium”, all your battles are seemingly pointless.
Upon reaching the end of the sewers, Dash is attacked by a giant Dianoga. This titanic, octopus-like creature is fought in the murky sewer water, so it’s very difficult to see and target its tentacles. Thankfully, its only attack is to bash you with its spiked appendages, which you can destroy with a few shots, and its main eye is an easy target. However, because you’re forced to manoeuvre with the clunky jetpack and mainly underwater, your greatest hazards will be the controls and reaching the surface to take a breath. After battling through Xizor’s Palace, you’ll face off against his mighty Gladiator Droid in a three-phase battle that can be a troublesome encounter. While the first phase is ridiculously easy (simply run around the cumbersome droid, avoiding its eye lasers and missile barrage and blasting it to 0% health), the second phase ups the ante. Here, the droid’s torso separates, and you’re dropped into a maze full of a handful of resources and dead ends. The Gladiator Droid hovers overhead firing eye lasers, missiles, and a rapid-fire pulse cannon but, again, you can avoid most of its barrage by staying beneath it and unloading with any seekers you have. In phase three, the boss’s head tries to finish you off and you must stay away from it (utilising your jetpack when allowed since it starts to malfunction) and fire any remaining disrupter blasts you have to finish it. This is the last on-foot section so don’t be shy and just go for it! Finally, Dash takes to the Outrider to join the assault upon Prince Xizor’s Skyhook. In this final stage, you must ignore the Star Vipers and TIE Fighters and destroy the Skyhook’s turrets, flying in and blasting them before they can shred you. Take them all out and you must carefully get the Outrider into the Skyhook itself, dodging obstacles to land shots on the main core. Make a few passes and hit it enough times and the Skyhook will burst into flames, forcing you to retreat before you’re caught in the explosion.
Additional Features: There are four difficulty levels on offer in Shadows of the Empire, with each one offering a different stock of lives (from infinite to three) and changing the challenge offered by the enemies. It’s recommended that you play on at least “Medium”, however, as that’s the only way to see the true ending and learn that Dash survived the finale. Every level contains an assortment of “Challenge Points” to either find or earn. These are either out in the open, hidden behind certain doors, down certain paths, or in hidden cervices, or earned by defeating AT-ATS or destroying special red asteroids. Collecting them all on each difficulty level unlocks some fun additional extras, such as the Leebo Scanner, invincibility, and the ability to pilot an X-Wing or TIE Fighter in the final battle. If you’d rather take the quick and easy path, however, you can give your save file a specific name and activate some useful cheats, such as skipping any sections that aren’t on-foot missions, viewing the credits, accessing every level, and an extremely useful debug mode that grants a host of cheeky abilities. You can also use these same cheats to play as enemy characters, from Stormtroopers to Wampas and even an AT-ST! Finally, your completion time is recorded for each level, so speedrunners or those seeking an extra challenge can try to beat their best times if they like.
The Summary: When I was a kid, everyone who had a Nintendo 64 had Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire. It was one of the most common games in our libraries and this is the third time I’ve owned it, though not the first I’ve beaten it. I was also a huge fan of the book, the Shadows of the Empire concept, and the comic book. Does that mean the videogame is any good, though? Well…no. Shadows of the Empire is an incredibly basic and clunky experience, even for an early-days Nintendo 64 title. Everything it does was done better in other games, even ones that released not long after it, with Star Fox 64 being the far better alternative. As much as I like Dash Rendar, he’s a painfully redundant and awkward character, floating through the air and slipping to his death with the slightest twitch of the control stick. It seems the developers didn’t know how best to use the Nintendo 64 control pad and insisted on mapping useless functions to every button but neglected to inject anything interesting into the gameplay beyond dodgy platforming and switch pressing. The vehicle sections were okay, but more akin to bonus stages, and I enjoyed some of the bosses, though the difficulty spike is all over the place. Tightening the focus onto gunplay, simple puzzle solving, and some shoot-‘em-up sections would’ve definitely made this a more enjoyable experience as the platforming and exploration is arduous and aggravating. There are some fun Easter Eggs and additional features here, and the story is a decent accompaniment to the books and comic, but Shadows of the Empire is only going to appeal to die-hard Star Wars fans…and even then it comes with a lot of caveats. You’re better off playing Star Fox 64 or one of Factor 5’s excellent Star Wars shoot-‘em-ups if you need a 64-bit Star Wars fix.
My Rating:
⭐⭐
Rating: 2 out of 5.
Could Be Better
Was Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire in your Nintendo 64 library back in the day? If so, did you enjoy it? Which of the different gameplay modes was your favourite? What did you think to Dash Rendar and his clunky-ass controls? Which of the boss battles was your favourite? Did you ever see the true ending and collect all the Challenge Points? Which Star Wars videogame is your favourite? How are you celebrating Star Wars this May? Whatever your thought and memories of Shadows of the Empire, feel free to leave a comment below, support me on Ko-Fi, and check out my other Star Wars content across the site.
May 4th is known the world over as Star Wars Day thanks to being one of the most fitting and amusing puns ever devised (“May the Fourth be with you” in place of the traditional “May the Force be with you”). The first and most popular of what can easily become a three day celebration of the influential science-fiction series, the day stands as the perfect excuse for Star Wars fans to celebrate the beloved franchise!
Published: 1 May 1996 to 2 October 1996 Writer: John Wagner Artist: Kilian Plunkett
The Background: Nowadays, Star Wars is a nigh-unstoppable multimedia juggernaut the includes not just live-action movies, but cartoons, toys, videogames, books, and comics. Following the completion of his Original Trilogy, George Lucas licensed the property to continue in a series of novels, later dubbed “Legends”. Later, in 1994, Lucasfilm’s publishing director Lucy Autrey Wilson met with Bantam editor Lou Aronica and author Steve Perry to discuss a Star Wars crossover multimedia event that would feature the all media and marketing of a film release without producing a movie, all to tie-in with the impending release of the 1997 Special Editions of the Original Trilogy. Shadows of the Empire would take place between Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back(Kershner, 1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (Marquand, 1983) and was comprised of Perry’s novel, a divisivevideogame, an extensive toy line, and this six-issue comic published by Dark Horse Comics. Excerpts from the comic featured in Nintendo Power magazine and two separate mini-comics accompanied the Micro Machines and Ertl toys. Reviews largely praised the comic, though it was noted to be just one part of a larger whole. Still, Perry returned to write a follow-up two years later and characters and elements featured, to different degrees, in Legends media and Star Wars videogames. Unfortunately, Shadows of the Empire was another casualty of Disney’s acquisition of the franchise as they de-canonised Legends media, though Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy was stated that characters like Dash Rendar have come up when discussing additional Star Wars projects.
The Review: Like the movies, Shadows of the Empire begins with the traditional open text crawl that brings readers up to speed with the story so far. Set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, the story begins with the Rebel Alliance still reeling after being forced from their Hoth base, young Jedi-in-training Luke Skywalker struggling with the knowledge that the evil Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader, is his father, and Princess Leia Organa and the mighty Chewbacca grieving the loss of charismatic scoundrel Han Solo, who was frozen in carbonite and spirited away by bounty hunter Boba Fett. Whilst the Rebel fleet is traversing the vast void of space, they’re detected by the malevolent Galactic Empire) and, eager to get back into action, Luke moves to aid Wedge Antilles and Rogue Squadron against the threat. However, he is convinced by Leia and his service droids, C-3PO/Threepio and R2-D2/Artoo, to rest and become properly acclimatised to his new robotic hand. Wedge and his team engage the Strike Cruiser and its Twin Ion Engine (TIE) Fighters, outmanoeuvring the clunky craft and blasting the cruiser to smithereens. However, the victory makes General Crix Madine wary and leads to him altering the fleet’s course, delaying their arrival on the desert planet of Tatooine, a necessary precaution that Leia believes will buy Luke more time to heal, both physically and psychologically. Though she’s unaware of the revelations Luke learned, she can sense something’s amiss but gives Luke his space to work through whatever’s bothering him. Meanwhile, across the galaxy, Darth Vader is chastised by his master, Emperor Shev Palpatine, aboard his flagship, the Executor, for failing to turn Luke to the Dark Side. When Palpatine questions Vader’s motives, the Dark Lord affirms his allegiance to his master and vows to track down the wayward Jedi, though Palpatine brings the conversation to a close to attend to more pressing matters: namely, the construction of the Death Star II. Thus, Palpatine orders Vader to meet with Prince Xizor on Coruscant to arrange his services in delivering essential materials to the construction.
While Xizor conspires to gain favour with the Emperor, Fett tries to deliver his quarry.
Xizor’s ties to the Black Sun criminal organisation and distrustful nature make Vader wary, concerns Palpatine shoots down as foolhardy. Upon ending the communication, it’s revealed that Xizor is already in attendance with the Emperor. A regal, lizard-like figure, Xizor questions whether Vader’s emotions are clouded by his feelings for Luke but Palpatine assures Xizor of his minion’s loyalty and his commitment to the Death Star II’s construction. Following the meeting, Xizor orders his beautiful android aide, Guri, to arrange a separate meeting with crime lord Jabba the Hutt and contact bounty hunters to intercept Luke and gain further favour with the Emperor. Elsewhere, Boba Fett arrives at Tatooine with his quarry, the aforementioned frozen Solo, gloating that the once cocksure smuggler is now little more than a work of art to be displayed. After disposing of a homing beacon placed on his ship while he was on Cloud City, Fett detects and destroys a probe sent by his bounty hunter rival, the malicious robot IG-88. Although Fett’s ship, Slave-1, is badly damaged by IG-88’s sneak attack, the Mandalorian blows his rival out of the stars and limps his way to nearby Gall, reasoning that it’s too dangerous to land on Tatooine. Word of Fett’s detour reaches an enraged Darth Vader, who orders his unscrupulous agent, Wrenga Jixton/Jix, to integrate himself into Jabba’s cut-throat swoop bike gang and await Luke’s inevitable arrival on the desert world and capture him alive, on pain of death. Although we don’t see the meeting between Vader and Xizor, Xizor relates to Guri how he did everything that was expected of him short of kissing the Dark Lord’s boots to keep him placated and form a business relationship with the Empire. Xizor’s goal is the exact opposite of Vader’s; he wishes to kill Luke and make it seem like the Empire, if not Vader himself, is responsible to diminish the Emperor’s faith in his apprentice in favour of the crime lord.
As if Dash’s unreliability wasn’t bad enough. the Rebels are threatened by a bounty on Luke’s head.
Meanwhile, Lando Calrissian (co-piloting the Millennium Falcon alongside Chewbacca and still atoning for betraying Han) arrives at Gall alongside Rogue Squadron, where Luke is finally back at the controls of his X-Wing, having been tipped off about Fett’s detour. Since Gall is home to an Imperial enclave, Lando has enlisted the aide of mercenary Dash Rendar, who flies alongside them in his Falcon-esque Outrider and is very much a stand-in for Han, both visually and in terms of his cavalier attitude. While Leia is wary of trusting such a man, Lando vouches for him, mentioning Dash aided their escape from Hoth. While Luke, Wedge, and Rogue Squadron engage the Star Destroyer and its TIE Fighters, Dash leads the Falcon to the spaceport where Slave-1 is docked, only to abandon them since he was only paid to be a guide. As if that wasn’t bad enough, one of Rogue Squadron goes haywire and opens fire on Luke amidst a tough dogfight, though Luke’s connection with the Force allows him to disable his comrade. On the planet’s surface, Fett meets with fellow bounty hunters Bossk’wassak’Cradossk and Zuckuss, who bid for a share of Fett’s bounty, a request that leads to a good, old fashioned bar fight. This is merely a distraction, however, so that 4-Lom and his minions can break into Slave-1. When Fett’s alerted to this, he dispatches the bounty hunter and takes off while Rogue Squadron make a tactical retreat and the Falcon engages with the TIE Fighters defending the Gall spaceport. Unfortunately, the Falcon is damaged and forced to land, meaning Fett slips through their fingers once more. Reconvening on the planet, the Rebels learn that a technician was bribed to tamper with Rogue Six’s X-Wing, which Leia theorises is the work of Black Sun. Although Lando and Chewie advise against tangling with the criminal organisation, Leia insists they send someone in to prove that Xizor is out to assassinate Luke and arranges for Luke to hide with Artoo at Obi-Wan Kenobi’s old shack on Tatooine. His travel plans coincide with Jix’s successful infiltration of the swoop bike gang, which he accomplishes by challenging their leader, “Big Gizz” Gizman, to a race and impressing the backwoods biker with his cutthroat attitude and dirty tactics.
Though Luke’s helped by Dash, Fett must rely on his wiles to outsmart his bounty hunter rivals.
The gang is called to Jabba’s palace and begrudgingly accepts the new recruit after Big Gizz vouches for him. Jabba then orders the bikers to head to Kenobi’s shack and kill Luke and, though Jix questions this since he knows Vader wants Luke alive, Big Gizz isn’t fussed and leads his riders off to a big payday, unaware that Dash is listening in on their boastful ranting at the bar. At the shack, the bikers attack Luke just after he completes his new lightsaber. Though not expecting to test his new weapon so soon and so violently, Luke cuts down one of the bikers and steals his ride, leading to a merry chase through Beggar’s Canyon. Jix is forced to fake an error with his bike to keep Big Gizz from shooting Luke, breaking his leg and then bashing Gizman’s brains in following their crash. Though Luke impresses with his riding and lightsaber skills, the bikers are driven off when Dash unexpectedly arrives to help. The two then find a message from Koth Melan, head of the Bothan spy network, that speaks of the Empire’s secret project. With Leia on Rodia infiltrating Black Sun, Luke meets with Koth on Bothawui alongside Dash, who tags along to “earn [his] pay”. At the Imperial Palace on Coruscant, Vader objects to Palpatine’s plan to deliver the Death Star II’s computer to Bothawui via a lone, unguarded freighter; an objection summarily dismissed by his dark master and overheard by Xizor. Against Guri’s objections, Xizor orders that the freighter’s movements be provided to the Bothans to ensure that Black Sun benefits no matter which side wins the war. Meanwhile, Boba Fett is suddenly ambushed by his fellow bounty hunters while in an asteroid field thanks to 4-Lom repairing itself and signalling help. Though literally disarmed by a laser shot, 4-Lom disables Slave-1’s weapons before being executed, leaving Fett at the mercy of Bossk’s boarding party. Though Fett tries to weasel his way out by taking Zuckuss and the others hostage, Bossk demonstrates his ruthlessness by opening fire on Slave-1, confident that Solo’s carbonite block would survive the ship’s destruction. Thus, Fett surrenders but easily gives his one inexperienced guard the slip and rearms himself, offing the others and forcing Zuckuss to lull Bossk in. Fett then dumps the bodies on Bossk’s ship and sets off an explosion before blasting to hyperspace.
The alluring Xizor conspires to humiliate Vader and manipulate the Emperor.
While Jix and the other bikers are reprimanded by Jabba for their failure, Xizor discusses Luke’s threat with the Emperor, where it’s revealed that the plot to leak the Death Star II’s plans to the Rebels was conjured by Xizor in order to lead them into a trap. Unaware of this deception, Luke meets with the surviving Bothans, who are working to crack the Imperial’s code and discover their secret, only for their stronghold to be attacked by lizard-like bounty hunters under the command of Skahtul. Despite having great respect for the Jedi, Skahtul captures Luke and reveals that there are two bounties out on him, one that wants him dead and one alive, and they’re waiting to get the best deal before deciding what to do with him. Palpatine orders Vader retrieve Luke, reasoning his presence will only further convince the Rebels of the validity of the Bothan’s data, however Luke uses the Force to coerce his guard into releasing him. Luke quickly retrieves his lightsaber and uses it to cut down the bounty hunters when he’s discovered, only to be saved by Lando’s timely intervention thanks to a tipoff from Dash. While they escape in the Falcon, Leia assumes the identity of deceased bounty hunter Boussh and Chewie is dressed up as Snoova, courtesy of Guri, and meets with Xizor on Coruscant, where Leia finds herself strangely attracted to the enigmatic crime lord. While conversing over tea, Leia is enamoured by Xizor’s allure and ends up kissing him, only regaining her composure when Chewie intervenes. Once back in Xizor’s chamber, Leia keeps her distance and distracts herself with tea while Chewie manhandles his guards in an escape attempt, breaking Xizor’s spell by kneeing him in the crotch. Angered that his pheromones and sexual lusts have been thwarted, Xizor has Guri confine Leia to her room. While Fett makes his way back to Tatooine, Vader interrogates Luke’s captors. He’s impressed by Luke’s advancing skills with the Force and angered to learn that Black Sun wants Luke dead, realising that Xizor wishes to embarrass him by killing his son. Back on the Executor, Jix tells Vader that Xizor has implicated Vader in the death warrant, so Vader heads to Coruscant to bring his evidence to Palpatine.
Though Dash is lost, Leia is rescued, Vader obliterates Xizor, and Fett claims his reward.
Speaking of Coruscant, Lando, Luke, and Dash gingerly navigate the Falcon past the Imperial blockade surrounding the city planet and land on its surface, where they navigate the putrid sewers to reach Xizor’s palace. Although Chewie slips and alerts the guards, the group easily guns their way through. Xizor sends Guri to get Leia, leading to her being knocked out when the princess escapes, but seems largely nonplussed by the attack since it’s all part of his grand plan. Reuniting with Leia, Luke leads them to the rooftops, only to run head-first into an unwinnable blaster fight with Xizor and his men. Thus, Luke pulls out a thermal detonator and threatens to blow them all up unless they’re given safe passage. Though Xizor calls his bluff, Lando reveals the bomb has a five minute delay and dumps it in the garbage chute, forcing Xizor to flee. Everyone escapes just before the palace explodes and Xizor flees to his skyhook space station, ordering his ships to attack the Falcon. Luckily, Dash offers some firepower from the Outrider. All our stories converge as Rogue Squadron and the Rebel fleet engage with Xizor and the Empire as Vader converges on the skyhook, leading to a momentary alliance between the Rebels and the Empire in an impressive space battle. Enraged, Xizor threatens to tell on Vader to the Emperor but Vader risks his master’s reprimand and obliterates both Xizor’s fleet and his skyhook. Unfortunately, while the Falcon makes it through the skyhook’s debris, Dash isn’t so lucky and is unceremoniously killed off panel during the escape. In the aftermath, Jix is spared execution at Jabba’s hands when Fett finally arrives with Han, only to be ambushed by the bounty hunters. Jix slips away in the fracas and Fett fools his rivals with 4-Lom and Zuckuss, allowing him to deliver Jabba his prize and claim his reward. Finally, Vader arrives at Endor, where the Death Star II is in orbit, still determined to sway Luke to the Dark Side and overthrow Palpatine.
The Summary: I’ve wanted to read Shadows of the Empire for a long time, ever since I played the Nintendo 64 game (which it seemed everyone owned back in the day). It’s not easy to come by, with the Dark Horse omnibus being out of print and Marvel Comics sneaking their reprint into one of their Essential collections. To this day, I really enjoy the concept and am annoyed that we haven’t seen something, either a live-action or animated venture, that officially fills the gap between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. It’s important to note, however, that each piece of merchandise in the Shadows of the Empire experience tells a different part of the story. The videogame focused on Dash Rendar and his adventures, the novel is similar to the comic and touches on some of the same story beats but mostly focuses on Luke and Leia, and the comic places greater emphasis on Boba Fett. You really need to experience all three to get the complete story, which is a bit of a shame, and it does impact the narrative here. For example, Lando mentions that Dash was on Hoth, something we play through in the videogame but gets no further context here. Dash, especially, comes out of nowhere and dips in and out of the narrative with little characterisation beyond being a Han Solo knock-off. It’s a shame as he has an awesome ship, a cool look, and a mercenary attitude that’s very appealing. I liked the idea of Leia hiring him to be Luke’s bodyguard, but it barely factors into the plot here. I’d also wager Luke could’ve handled the swoop bikers without Dash and infiltrated Coruscant without his smuggling contacts (especially as they have Lando on side). Dash is also abruptly killed right at the end of the story, off panel no less, and Luke barely even acknowledges it. If you’ve played the game, you’ll know that Dash faked his death, but he’s just snuffed out here after barely getting a chance to do much and disappearing in the background of some panels. This really bothers me as I liked Dash in the book and the game and he was set up as one of the principal supporting characters of the Shadows of the Empire experiment so it’s kind of insulting to see him done away with so callously.
New characters aren’t as fleshed out as in the book but Fett gets a lot of the spotlight here.
That leaves us with our other new character, Prince Xizor. Xizor also gets way more backstory in the novel, which is the be expected; it delves into his background, his pheromones and abilities, and his true motivations for manipulating the Emperor and Vader. Most of that is still here but it’s very shallow and one-dimensional; he has a unique look and alluring presence but seems to be playing both sides simply for the fun of it. He tries to sow the seeds of doubt into Palpatine regarding Vader and seeks to humiliate the Dark Lord by killing Luke and framing him for it, thereby denying the Emperor a new apprentice, all with the vague idea that he and Black Sun will profit in the end. It’s a wonky plan, one immediately undone the moment Vader interrogates Xizor’s underlings, and Xizor’s vast criminal network and resources, as impressive as they are (in the book, anyway) are nothing compared to Vader’s raw power. Thus, we’re left following an unusually loquacious Boba Fett as he desperately tries to deliver Han Solo to Jabba the Hutt and is constantly attracting the wrath and jealousy of his fellow bounty hunters. Fett’s monologuing reveals his hatred of Solo and his keen guile; he’s seen to be resourceful and adaptable, surrendering, setting traps, and fooling his opponents to get out of scrapes and come out on top. It’s ancillary media like Shadows of the Empire that really fleshed Boba Fett out, I feel, and added to his surge of popularity at the time. In the films, he’s visually interesting but otherwise unimpressive, portrayed as a klutz and a cry-baby. But here, he’s regarding as “the best” of his kind and shown to be a wily and capable bounty hunter. Luke, Leia, Lando, Threepio, and Artoo are more like supporting characters here. There’s some rumination on Leia’s part regarding Luke’s demeanour but he doesn’t dwell much on Vader’s revelation and we don’t get much insight into how he’s feeling. You’ll need to read the book for that, which also covers the construction of his new lightsaber in far more detail. The comic briefly touches upon Xizor’s effect on Leia but it’s a brief sequence, though one that does show how fiery she can be in a fight, and the droids may as well be absent since they don’t do much of anything save for a comedic sequence at the end where they fly the Millennium Falcon.
The comic fills an essential gap in the lore, but suffers from being one piece of a larger story.
Visually, Shadows of the Empire is very appealing. I’ve found the art in the Dark Horse Star Wars comics to be a bit hit and miss but Kilian Plunkett captures the likenesses of the actors well. He really shines in his depictions of space battles and armoured characters like Boba Fett and Darth Vader, who are intricately detailed and get all the dynamic “hero shots”. The writing is…okay, except for Vader. I don’t feel John Wagner really captured the essence and awe of Vader, especially in his conversations with the Emperor. Palpatine fared much better in this regard, taunting and questioning his apprentice throughout, as did Fett, though I could’ve done with his soliloquys being rendered as thought bubbles. Shadows of the Empire is an essential story to Star Wars canon; it shows the lengths the Rebels went to try and retrieve Han, how Luke recovered from his duel with Vader, and fills in a few blanks in the narrative between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. This is why it irks me so much that it’s been disregarded as canon and hasn’t been replaced with something else or re-adapted into a new, similar story. I feel there’s a lot of potential to explore this period and that Shadows of the Empire should be re-canonised to fill that void, especially as this adventure with Xizor and Dash has a lot of intrigue behind it. It explores Vader’s conflicting feelings regarding Luke, his desire to reunite with his son and overthrow the Empire, and gives him a rival for the Emperor’s affections in Xizor. I like the cat and mouse game between Vader and Xizor, though it’s not as prominent in the comic, and Xizor manipulating different parties to target Luke. It’s nice to spend more time with Boba Fett and explore his motivations and abilities, and it’s fun touching upon little things like Luke making a new lightsaber and the Emperor’s leaking of the Death Star II plans. Unfortunately, the comic is very disjointed and suffers from the story being spread across different media. It’s decent enough but it’s merely an appetiser, or a small piece of a larger puzzle, meaning you need to read the book and/or play the videogame to get the whole story.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Pretty Good
Did you enjoy Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire? Which of its media productions was your favourite? Were you a fan of Dash Rendar and Prince Xizor? What do you think to Darth Vader’s portrayal and his rivalry with Xizor? Were you happy to see Boba Fett get more time in the spotlight? Which Star Wars comic was your favourite? How are you celebrating Star Wars Day today? Whatever your thoughts and memories of Shadows of the Empire, feel free to leave a comment below and be sure to check out my other Star Wars content across the site.
While May 4th is known the world over as Star Wars Day, many also choose to extend the celebrations of the course of three days, with one of them being the “Evil Star Wars Day” of May 6th (as in “Sith”).
Released: 28 February 1995 Developer: LucasArts Also Available For: Macintosh and MS-DOS
The Review: I’m giving Star Wars: Dark Forces a shorter review not necessarily because there isn’t much to say about the game, or because of its length, but primarily because my playthrough ran into a few roadblocks that even the super useful cheat menu couldn’t help me with. Even if this wasn’t the case, I would’ve still blasted through it with a series of cheats enabled (including invincibility and all weapons), so I feel it’s better to just give an overview of this Doom clone, a game I’ve long coveted due to its obscurity in the vast tapestry of Star Wars videogames. Anyone who’s played Doom will find the control scheme very familiar, but there are a few differences here: by default, you can swim and Triangle lets you jump, for example, and you can run by holding R1, two elements you’ll need to incorporate in later levels (referred to as “Missions”) to clear gaps. Square fires your primary shot, Circle cycles through your available weapons, and X allows you to activate switches and open doors and such. The PlayStation’s analogue sticks are useless here; it’s all about the directional pad and tank-like controls. Still, while there’s no aiming reticule, there’s a mild auto aim system and you can look up or down by holding L1 and strafe by holding R2, allowing a slightly greater range of movement when in a firefight. L2 acts as a toggle; if you hold this down and press Triangle, you’ll crouch to pass through smaller gaps, pressing Square fires your weapon’s secondary shot (usually a cluster shot or proximity function or emptying an entire clip), and pressing Circle cycle backwards through your inventory.
Kyle has an impressive array of weapons and options to help him achieve his objectives.
You play as mercenary and Han Solo proxy Kyle Katarn and are tasked with completing fourteen Missions, each with certain objectives that need to be accomplished (with many of these being repeated across the game, such as finding something or placing explosive charges) before you’re generally forced to backtrack to the start to exit on your ship (or, more accurately manually from the pause menu when prompted). Kyle has a decent array of weaponry available to him throughout the game, including a slow-firing pistol, an inaccurate Stormtrooper blaster, thermal detonators and a grenade launcher, and an assault cannon. If you run out of ammo, you can always default to your fists, but ammo seems pretty plentiful, though some weapons are quite large and obscure your vision and also have less ammo than others due to their power. You can occasionally blow open walls, crates, and explosive barrels to take out enemies and access secret areas, either to find shortcuts or caches of useful items, such as ammo, pick-ups to replenish your health and/or shield, or extra lives, brief invincibility, and temporary power-ups to your weapons. By pressing ‘Select’, you can activate a number of useful items, such as a small wireframe map that’s placed right in your field of vision, or activate a gas mask, night vision, or a headlight if you have enough battery power. You can also access Kyle’s PDA from here, which provides a larger map (when you find the appropriate item to enable this, though, it’s very confusing to look at), an overview of your inventory and objectives, and options to abort or restart the mission. Before you start the game, you can pick from three difficulty settings (“Easy”, “Medium”, or “Hard”) and you’ll need to find coloured keys to open certain doors and complete objectives such as locating clues or certain items (like the Death Star plans), placing explosive charges, and escaping your current location.
While the visuals can be repetitive, some locations and cutscenes do stand out.
One reason I struggled with Star Wars: Dark Forces, even with the cheats enabled, was that it sadly borrows the worst aspect of Doom: large, nearly identical, labyrinthine environments. While some locations faithfully recreate the aesthetic of locations like the Tantive IV or feature little details like those chirping Death Star droids, Imperial symbols, wireframe holograms, and the visuals of the Original Trilogy are recreated as faithfully as this generation of gaming allows, this is quite possibly the greyest game I’ve ever played! Almost every Mission takes place in an Imperial facility or on an Imperial starship, meaning everything is a dull military grey or a stone-grey shading, so it’s really easy to get lost and run into dead ends as you try to figure out where to go next. You’ll be activating a lot of switches to open doors but, like in Doom, it’s sometimes hard to tell what these switches activate. Locations also include stairwells and lifts, which can turn you about quite easily, and you unfortunately can’t destroy many of the monitors you see lining the walls (though the bodies of your victims do stay strewn on the ground, helping to show where you’ve been). Even when there is some visual variety, like the dark, towering skyscrapers of Coruscant or the disgusting sewage system of Anoat City, or the muddy hue of Jabba’s Kell Dragon-infested ship, things aren’t especially attractive. You’ll occasionally take a break from the endless grey to see purple or red-hued skies, dodge flaming pipes and crushing hazards, navigate industrial-esque mines and avoid giant fans. You can find and equip the ice cleats so as not to plummet to your death on frigid, narrow platforms and blast your way through a Star Destroyer to put an end to the Dark Trooper program, but it’s incredibly difficult to navigate each area and it’s disappointing how repetitive the visuals become. Each Mission is proceeded by a veritable wall of text to read but there are some amusing cutscenes on offer. Of course, the game begins with the classic Star Wars story scroll and distorted versions of the iconic music (including an “Imperial March” remix) feature during the game, but you’ll see decent CGI scenes whenever the story’s focusing on ships or planets and partially animated pixel art whenever characters are talking, which really evokes the DOS games of the era.
With only two bosses to contend with, you’ll have to settle for some tougher enemy variants.
Because I quickly became hopelessly lost and confused, I was only able to clear one Mission in Star Wars: Dark Forces and that was more by accident. Instead, I was forced to manually skip to the next Mission on every other level of the game, meaning I never found Crix Madine or Moff Rebus and Boba Fett only appeared in a cutscene in my playthrough. As you explore the repetitive environments, you’ll gun down incalculable Stormtroopers and Imperial officers, all of whom cry out when they see you and when they’re killed, which is fun. Imperial probe droids and other robotic enemies are also present, including (oddly) the Jedi training sphere and that spherical torture device, and these wicked sword-wielding robots that take ages to put down. Pig-like Gamorreans also show up, carrying large axes for a long reach, as do grenade-tossing, three-eyed Grans, disgusting squid-like monsters in the sewers, the gigantic and voracious aforementioned Kell Dragons, and even Trandoshans (who are all just copy/pastes of Bossk. Your most formidable recurring enemies are the Dark Troopers, large, dark-garbed Stormtroopers who can hover overhead and fire missiles and devastating plasma blasts at you. You’ll have to destroy ceiling-mounted turrets, avoid damaging liquid, and even see TIE Fighters flying out into the abyss (though they’re no threat) but I wasn’t able to complete Mission 11 enough to trigger the battle with Boba Fett. However, from what I can see, he’s very much the same as a Death Trooper as he flies about shooting missiles and blasting at you, meaning the Death Troopers and those droids are the closest the game has to boss battles. I did go head-to-head with General Rom Mohc, the man behind the Dark Trooper initiative, who’s also garbed in Death Trooper armour. His strategy is mostly to spam assault cannon shots and defeating him sees Kyle’s potential catch the eye of Darth Vader and the man himself be awarded for his services to the Rebellion. Unfortunately, there’s not much else to Star Wars: Dark Forces; there’s no multiplayer or deathmatch mode, so you’re left with challenging the game’s harder difficulties or messing about with the passwords and cheats, which also allow you to skip to different Missions, change your size, “pogo” up to higher platforms, and seemingly reflect enemy shots.
The Summary: I’ve had vague memories of playing Star Wars: Dark Forces as a kid; I’m sure I played it on DOS way back in my youth and, as a fan of Star Wars, Doom, and Doom clones, I’d longed to get my hands on it and blast my way through countless Stormtroopers with reckless abandon. Unfortunately, Star Wars: Dark Forces quickly threw up some annoying roadblocks that meant I was far more reliant on the cheats than I initially planned to be. The game focuses way too much on its maze-like aspects, forcing you to backtrack to the start of most locations to be picked up by Kyle’s ship rather than having a traditional end goal like other FPS games from the time. This is bad enough but just trying to find your way around is even more frustrating thanks to the terrible map system, repetitive environments, and confusing level layout; everywhere looks the same and it’s easy to get lost, confused, or just aimlessly run around in circles searching for where you’re supposed to go next. The game also has a disappointing lack of boss battles; those droids and the Dark Troopers are formidable enemies, but I would’ve liked to see more battles against bounty hunters, or maybe a showdown with an AT-ST walker, or just something to break up the journey back to the level start. Although the game is slow, clunky, and runs very poorly, the sound effects and voice samples were fun; the cutscenes, while often terribly drawn, had a certain visual appeal and I quite liked the array of weaponry on offer. Unfortunately, the game is too dark, too confusing, and lacks any visual variety for me to really recommend it all that much. It’s a decent Doom clone but it could’ve been a lot better and you’re much better off just playing one of the other, more notable Doom knock-offs that came out around this time.
My Rating:
⭐⭐
Rating: 2 out of 5.
Could Be Better
Have you ever played Star Wars: Dark Forces? Were you a fan of Kyle Katarn and his adventures? What did you think to the level layout and game environments? Did you also get lost and confused or were you able to easily best this title? What did you think to the Dark Trooper plot and lack of proper boss battles? Which Doom knock-off is your favourite? Whatever your thoughts on Star Wars: Dark Forces, or FPS games in general, drop a comment below or let me know on my social media.
Although May 4th is known the world over as Star Wars Day, many also choose to celebrate the popular, generation-spanning science-fiction saga on May 5th as a play on the word “Sith”, thereby extending Star Wars Day into three day celebration of the influential science-fiction franchise.
Air Date: 17 November 1978 Director: Steve Binder Original Network: CBS Stars: Mark Hamill, Don Francks (allegedly), Anthony Daniels, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford
The Background: Inspired by the Flash Gordon serials that captivated him as a youth, George Lucas sought to create his own “space opera”, a timeless futuristic fantasy that was infused with multipleinfluences across reality and media. Star Wars(later retitled to Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope) wowed audiences and critics upon release in 1977, becoming one of the most successful films ever made. Although it was followed by a polarisingsequel in 1980 that is now regarded as one of the best in the franchise, Star Wars actually received a little known made-for-television special just one year later. Reportedly, it was CBS who pushed for the development of the Star Wars Holiday Special, a variety show that featured the main cast but very little input from Lucas beyond wanting it to heavily feature the Wookiee race. Unlike its feature-film predecessor, the Star Wars Holiday Special was universally panned at the time, with both Lucas and thecast dismissing the oddball production. Since its broadcast, the Star Wars Holiday Special has become something of a “white whale” for the franchise; it was never broadcast again and never released on home media, and is notable only for its obscurity and for introducingfan favourite bounty hunter Boba Fett in this animated segment. With animation inspired by the surreal artwork of Jean Henri Gaston Giraud/Mœbius,, The Story of the Faithful Wookiee is the only part of the Star Wars Holiday Special to receive a wide release as of this writing, being included in the Complete Saga Blu-ray set and even releasing on Disney+ in 2021.
The Plot: While attempting to recover a mystical talisman, Luke Skywalker (Hamill), Han Solo (Ford), Princess Leia Organa (Fisher) and the droids C-3PO (Daniels) and R2-D2 crash-land on Panna, a hostile alien world where they are aided by mysterious bounty hunter Boba Fett (Francks).
The Review: Being a big Star Wars fan, I was aware of the Star Wars Holiday Special, though I couldn’t tell you exactly when, where, or how it came to my attention. I’ve seen a lot of talk about how awful it is and, from what I’ve seen, it really does seem to be one of the cheesiest, most unfitting misfires to befall the entire franchise (and that’s saying something). The bulk of the special revolves around Han Solo bringing his Wookiee friend and co-pilot, Chewbacca/Chewie (Peter Mayhew), back to his home planet of Kashyyyk for “Life Day”, a traditional Wookiee celebration somewhat akin to Thanksgiving. With the two delayed by Imperial Star Destroyers, Chewbacca’s family – wife Mallatobuck/Malla (Mickey Morton), father Attichitcuk/Itchy (Paul Gale), and son Lumpawaroo/Lumpy (Patty Maloney) – and other characters distract themselves with various television programs, broadcasts, and song numbers providing a variety of “entertainment” that we, the viewers, watch alongside them. The Story of the Faithful Wookiee is one of these segments, an animated feature that Malla has Lumpy watch to keep him from worrying about his father’s troubles to get home for Life Day, immediately making one ask just why there is a cartoon detailing the adventures of the upstart Rebellion being so freely broadcast in the galaxy. In the cartoon, Han and Chewie have gone off looking for a sacred talisman that would be of great use to the Rebellion since it’s believed to make things invisible. Right away, this is an interesting departure from the usual Star Wars fare, where mystical artifacts tend to be associated with the Jedi or Sith, and it’s interesting that the mission wasn’t to recover a piece of invisibility technology rather than a magical ruin. Luke and Leia get a bit antsy when the duo take longer than expected to return with the artifact, and even more so when the Rebellion receives a transmission from the Millennium Falcon that depicts the two in trouble. Concerned, Luke hops into a Y-Wing with Threepio and Artoo to go after his friends, navigating an asteroid field and being startled when the Falcon fires warning shots at him before ditching onto one of the Panna system’s gloopy water planets.
Trapped on a hostile world, Luke has no choice but to trust the mysterious Boba Fett.
With his communications systems damaged in his own less than graceful landing, Luke ventures out of his ship to search for Han and Chewie, much to Threepio’s chagrin, and is attacked by one of the dinosaur-like inhabitants of the world. Though resistant to Luke’s blaster, the Nessie-like creature is content to feast upon one of the Y-Wing’s thrusters while Luke and the others flee to safety in the cockpit section, though it is soon chased away by a blast from a helmeted stranger’s two-pronged lance. Sitting astride another gargantuan beast, the armoured saviour greets Luke and offers him assistance, identifying himself as Boba Fett and appearing to be warm and helpful, even if he takes a dim view towards showing kindness to “lower lifeforms” such as the planet’s voracious inhabitants. Although Threepio questions the soft-spoken Boba Fett’s kindness, Luke readily accepts his help in locating the crashed Falcon not just because of their shared dislike of the Empire but also because they don’t have any other choice if they want to rescue their friends. Luke’s faith seems to be rewarded as Boba Fett leads them to the Falcon, but he’s stunned when he boards the ship and finds Chewie, seemingly possessed, in the process of destroying the talisman. Luke collapses before he can stop the Wookiee, and it’s only through Threepio’s plea that Boba Fett doesn’t use deadly force on Chewie, believing that he caused Luke’s abrupt blackout.
After his true nature is revealed, Boba Fett leaves without a fuss, making for an abrupt finale.
However, Artoo reveals that the talisman was emitting “contamination”, a sleeping virus that only affects humans, which is what caused Luke to drop unconscious and Han to fall asleep. Boba Fett reveals he is always aware of this weird virus, which can only be cured by hanging its victims upside down so the blood rushes to their heads, or with a remedy the Empire possesses in their nearby city. Boba Fett begrudgingly allows the insistent Chewie to accompany him to the city, a sprawling mechanical metropolis protected by bulbous domes, and the two sneak in through waste ducts. Boba Fett demands that Chewie hang back to avoid drawing undue attention, though this is a ruse to give the bounty hunter the chance to contact his employer, Darth Vader (James Earl Jones). When Threepio, anxious about the mission, asks Artoo to locate Chewie using the Falcon’s video system, they intercept this transmission and learn that Vader has tasked Boba Fett with earning the group’s trust so he can locate the new Rebel base. After retrieving the serum, Boba Fett and Chewie flee the city, easily taking out the single Stormtrooper unit sent to intercept them, and Luke and Han make a full recovery. Although Luke is incredibly grateful to this newfound friend, Threepio reveals Boba Fett’s true intentions, and a climactic showdown ensues. Wait…no, it doesn’t. Boba simply bids them farewell and jetpacks away without a fight! Far from feeling any shame or anger at this betrayal, Luke simply joins his friends in laughing the whole thing off and they simply leave Panna without any opposition, bringing the short to an abrupt end.
The Summary: Well, this was…certainly something. The first thing I want to note is how cool it is that all the film’s cast returned to voice their characters, even James Earl Jones and a very bored-sounding Harrison Ford. The cartoon also includes some musical cues and sound effects from the movie, giving it an air of legitimacy, but all of this is contrasted with its truly bizarre animation style. Walking a weird line between surreal, anime, and realistic, the cartoon is disturbing in its renditions of these characters, with Han looking particularly ugly. How the animators looked at prime Harrison Ford, one of the most ruggedly handsome men of this era, and turned him into this horse-faced abomination is beyond me. Luckily, Han’s barely in this so we don’t have to look at it for long, but Luke doesn’t fare much better, with some angles and movements being beyond surreal and venturing into fever dream territory. Similarly, the droids are much too fluid, losing their rigid, robotic nature, looking as cartoonish and out of place as the planet’s dinosaur wildlife. On the plus side, ships and environments fare much better; the Imperial city, though only briefly seen, is like an amalgamation of Mos Eisley and Neo Tokyo and reminds me of the rundown, futuristic cities we’d see in later Star Wars films. Frankly, I could’ve done with more time being spent in the city, or traversing the bizarre alien world, which barely factors into the plot. I feel this was a wasted opportunity and it would’ve made more sense for the Empire’s presence to merely be a small garrison digging for the mystical talisman on a backwater world, with Boba Fett being there as a neutral third party looking to steal and sell the artifact for this own end and the Falcon being downed by a surprise attack.
Bizarre visuals, a weird plot, and Boba Fett’s strange depiction make this truly forgettable.
Of course, the main reason people know or talk about this cartoon is for the introduction of Boba Fett, who looks and acts completely differently here than in any other media. Presented as a stoic, faceless bounty hunter with an obsession with profiting from Han Solo’s capture in his brief live-action appearances, here he’s a loquacious and deceitful enigma who easily gains Luke’s trust and is said to be Darth Vader’s “right-hand man”. I did enjoy Boba’s depiction, though; he’s affable but also quite vicious, mistreating his monstrous steed and thinking little of other lifeforms, and he’s packing an array of gadgets and weapons, from his aforementioned lance to binding whips, a never-used pistol, and a jetpack. His mission was simply to befriend the Rebels to find their base, though he only partly succeeds in this venture. There’s no battle against him, Han and Chewie have no idea who he is, and he simply leaves without a fuss, making for an anti-climactic finale that does little to flesh out the bounty hunter’s character. In the end, it’s an interesting oddity but one that’s hardly going to shed new light on Star Wars lore. If the animation and poor voice acting doesn’t turn you off, the strange and nonsensical nature of the cartoon will and there’s little reason to go out of your way to watch this one, especially with all the other, far superior Star Wars content that’s now available.
My Rating:
⭐
Rating: 1 out of 5.
Terrible
Have you ever watched The Story of the Faithful Wookiee? What did you think to the animation style? Were you surprised that the Rebels were looking for a mystical talisman? What did you think to Boba Fett’s characterisation? Were you surprised when he turned out to be a bad guy, and that there was no physical showdown with him? Would you like to see the Star Wars Holiday Special more widely available, or do you think it’s better off dead? How are you celebrating Star Wars this May? Whatever your thoughts on Boba Fett, and Star Wars in general, leave a comment below and check out my other Star Wars content across the site!
May 4th is known the world over as Star Wars Day thanks to being one of the most fitting and amusing puns ever devised (“May the Fourth be with you” in place of the traditional “May the Force be with you”). The first and most popular of what can easily become a three day celebration of the influential science-fiction series, the day stands as the perfect excuse for Star Wars fans to celebrate the beloved franchise in various ways.
Released: 4 April 2000 Developer: LucasArts Also Available For: Dreamcast and Game Boy Advance
A Brief Background: Almost immediately following its 1977 debut, George Lucas’ science-fiction “space opera” became a massive multimedia juggernaut that expanded to include sequels, prequels, spin-offs, novels, videogames, comic books, and more. After wrapping up his Original Trilogy, Lucas was hesitant to return to the franchise, but the success of the “Expanded Universe” books led to a revived interest in Star Wars and Lucas not only produced “Special Edition” versions of the Original Trilogy in 1997 but also the divisivefirstchapter in his Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace(Lucas, 1999). Despite manylacklustre to average reviews, the film made over $1 billion at the box office and was accompanied by a huge marketing campaign. All these new toys, books, and comics were joined by ten different videogame adaptations released across numerous platforms, though this is the one I most remember playing as my friends and I used to muck about with it back in the day. The developers of Jedi Power Battles used paper cut outs to design the layout and features of the game’s environments and strived to give each character their own unique appearance, abilities, and lightsaber colours. Although numerous fixes and improvements were made to the subsequent Dreamcast version, this version of the game was received rather poorly; reviews criticised the game’s high level of difficulty and awful controls, though the co-op mechanics and arcade-style gameplay was highlighted as a positive.
First Impressions: Star Wars: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles is a 2.5D, arcade-style hack-and-slash adventure game that includes a little light puzzle solving, some aggravating platforming sections, and a touch of role-playing functionality. Up to two players can play at any one time, which can be useful for taking on the droid army of the Trade Federation but can cause some serious gameplay issues; for one thing, players share the Credit pool, so your game can end pretty quickly if you get defeated too many times. You also have to be mindful not to stray too far behind; if you linger or get left behind when your friend gets too far ahead, you’ll lose a life, and the game will end that much faster. Players can pick from five Jedi characters – Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn, Mace Windu, Adi Gallia and Plo Koon – who all share the same basic control scheme. There are five control schemes to pick from, but the default sees you using Square, Triangle, and X to swing your lightsaber horizontally, heavily, or vertically, respectively, and Circle being used to jump and double jump. There aren’t any jumping attacks here, but you can string together combos using Triangle, X, and Circle and you can also run by holding R2. If you hold L1, you’ll block incoming attacks; tapping it will deflect laser bolts, which is a great way to defeat faraway enemies but keep an eye on your block meter as this depletes (and automatically fills) over time. You can lock on to the nearest enemy with R1, which also sees you circle that enemy and perform a dodge roll but be sure to disengage the lock on if you’re near an edge or hazard as you’re likely to get hurt or lose a life.
Team up with a friend to double the frustration and difficulty of this clunky hack-and-slash game.
Holding L2 allows you to use each character’s four unique Force powers; this also depletes a meter, and you’ll need to grab power-ups to replenish it, and these powers allow you to perform short, defensive, long-range, and special attacks by holding L2 and pressing Triangle, Circle, X, or Square. To start with, Obi-Wan has a saber dash and tosses a thermal detonator, Qui-Gon unleashes a shockwave to send enemies flying and tosses a pulse grenade, Mace Windu protects himself with a saber shield and also tosses a thermal detonator, Adi Gallia can mesmerise foes and protect herself with an energy shield, and Plo Koon has a saber cyclone attack and stim pack. As you defeat enemies, you’ll gain “Jedi Points”; defeating enemies with style, different combos, or with a variety of attacks rewards more Jedi Points while attacking protocol droids or local Naboo wildlife costs you points. These points are tallied up at the end of each level and can be traded in to extend your health or Force meter and also award new combo attacks and Force abilities, though the game doesn’t list these anywhere, so you’ll just have to remember or make a note of them. Finally, you can also find some helpful power-ups dotted around; beyond the usual health and Force-restoring items, you can grab an extra Credit, hit checkpoints for when you inevitably die, add a special item (like the thermal detonator) to your inventory, extend or power-up your lightsaber, and either refill all your meters or halve them for an added challenge. There are two difficulty modes to pick from, “Easy” and “Jedi” mode; I tried “Easy” and the game still presents quite a challenge. While regular battle droids go down pretty easily, their coloured variants are surprisingly tough and they can send you flying with melee attacks up close or absolutely wreck you with laser bolts from afar if you’re not careful!
Hazards, tough enemies, and annoying platforming sections drag down this ugly-looking title.
The presentation on offer here is pretty good by 2000 PlayStation standards; we get the traditional Star Wars opening and story scroll, pixelated screenshots from the movie, and a full score that is ripped right from John Williams’ orchestral suite. After being treated to a CG opening sequence that strangely places the five main characters in a black void, you’ll behold some of the ugliest polygonal representations of these characters ever created; I don’t begrudge Jedi Power Battles too much for this as this is genuinely what a lot of games looked like back then and, to be fair, the character models don’t look too bad once you’re playing the game and the camera isn’t zoomed in on their blocky faces. They don’t have any idle animations, but their combat moves are pretty swift and satisfying; it’s a shame, then, that the controls are so awkward. Despite allowing analogue control, the game feels very clunky; if you’re not locked on to a target, you’ll swing wildly (and slowly) at thin air and, when you are locked on, you’re trapped in one-on-one combat with the target and vulnerable to other enemies. Where the game really falls apart, though, is in the platforming; in the first stage (a pretty decent recreation of the Trade Federation’s battleship), you’ll need to jump across gaps in bridges, avoid electrified floors and hazards, and hop across pistons. In the second stage, the jungles of Naboo, you need to jump up giant mushroom-like platforms and across large branches and treetops, which is especially difficult to do because of the immovable camera. It can be very difficult to judge where you are and how far away things are from you; while characters do grab ledges to give you some leeway, it’s all too easy to just slip off to your death, be shot out of the air, or miss-time a jump and have to start all over. Gameplay is mixed up a little in the second stage, where you must run away from the Trade Federation’s droid carriers amidst a stampede of dinosaur-like creatures towards the camera in a shameless rip-off of Crash Bandicoot (Naughty Dog, 1996). The game’s environments, while detailed and very true to the movie, are very ugly at times; again, this is just how games were back then but it’s a bit of sensory overload at times as textures warp around you and the game world struggles to stay in one piece.
My Progression: As I mentioned, I’ve played Jedi Power Battles before in my youth; it was a long time ago but I knew I wanted the game in my PlayStation library once I started seriously collecting for the console, so I was excited to get into it and sure that I’d be able to finish the game one way or another. I picked Qui-Gon Jinn on “Easy” mode and got to work and, to start with, things weren’t too bad; when you’re running through corridors slicing up droids, the game is quite fun. But then you see the gaps, experience the awful jumping mechanics, and see how the game’s graphics are used against you; there’s one point where it looks like you need to jump between these electrical currents, but you actually need to jump along the side of the screen and will die if you drop down, which isn’t clear at all. Later, your path is blocked by some Droidekas, but they’re actually not that difficult to defeat, and you need to battle through some control rooms full of destructible elements to get to the hanger. After avoiding dropping to my death, I battled two bosses; the first was a large droid with two long, spiked arms and a platform for a head and the second was a droid ship that flew around firing lasers at me on a small gantry as droids distracted me. The first was definitely a challenge; the droid is quite large, and it can be hard to outrun or jump over its charge and spindly arms, but the hardest part of the second boss was dispatching the battle droids before they could ruin my chance to parry the bolts back at the ship.
Sadly, the game proved too frustrating for me to experience its later levels and battles.
Things fell apart in the second level, though; after being trampled to death in the opening stampede, I managed to get to safety and was charged with “protecting” Jar Jar Binks, who you’ll spot flailing about in the backgrounds. Before you can do that, though, you have to wade through a small army of battle droids (or, as I did later, simply race past them as it’s faster!) and take to higher ground. This was extremely frustrating as it was really hard to jump to the mushroom platforms; if you fall from too high up even in this section, you’ll die, to say nothing of being pummelled, blasted, or falling as you traverse the higher path. This sets you back quite a bit but there is an extra life you can snag before the mushroom tree, effectively giving you infinite continues; once you pass it, you enter a cave and must battle a giant worm creature. This thing appears to only be vulnerable on its underside, but it spits out these homing projectiles that can stun lock you, slams into the ground, and spins around with a tail attack. Deal enough damage and it retreats to the side and spits out small termite-like creatures, but this was where I had to call it a day as the worm just decimated my health bar in seconds and I didn’t want to have to play through the frustrating jungle section to try it again. It’s a bit of a shame as well because I know that later levels of the game represent other aspects of the movie, such as infiltrating the Naboo capital, utilising vehicles, and battling Darth Maul. There are also additional characters you can unlock after completing the game, such as the aforementioned Darth Maul and even Queen Padmé Amidala (who plays differently since she doesn’t have any Jedi abilities). Unfortunately, there are no passwords or cheat codes to help with progression in this game, doubling frustration and disappointment; once all your Credits are exhausted, you have to replay the last stage from the beginning, which is very tedious with the stunted camera and janky controls, all of which meant that I was barely able to limp through the first mission let alone even consider trying to conquer the Naboo jungles again!
I waited for years to play Star Wars: Episode I: Jedi Power Battles again; I had fond memories of it from my youth and was really excited to get into it, but it seems that my memories were tainted by time. Although the game has a bombastic score and aspects of the lightsaber combat are exciting, it looks atrocious, even by PlayStation’s standards, and the controls are sluggish and awkward. This probably wouldn’t have been so bad if it had been a mindless hack-and-slash with simple push/pull puzzles and a bit of jumping, but placing such a great emphasis on platforming when your depth perception and game engine are already frustrating is just asking for trouble. The game offers quite the challenge, even on “Easy” mode and even more so in two-player; just targeting and attacking an enemy without being blasted by another or slipping to your death is hard enough, to say nothing of the needless limitation on continues and messed up controls. It’s a shame as I was really looking forward to slicing my way through a fun melee title, but I don’t think I’ll be coming back to Jedi Power Battles any time soon. But perhaps you’ve beaten it without any issues. Perhaps I’m missing something, like playing as a different character or not sucking so hard? Maybe you know of a better Episode I-branded videogame? Whatever the case, there’s a comments section below and my social media is always open to hear your thoughts, good or bad, so feel free to share them and go check out my other Star Wars content!
While May 4th is known the world over as Star Wars Day, many also choose to extend the celebrations of the course of three days, with one of them being the “Evil Star Wars Day” of May 6th (as in “Sith”). This year, I’ve been using the three Star Wars Days as the perfect excuse to go plug a few holes in my Star Wars reviews.
Released: 18 December 2015 Director: J. J. Abrams Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Budget: $259 to 306 million Stars: Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford
The Plot: Thirty years after the Galactic Empire was defeated, the “First Order” constructs a devastating, planet-sized superweapon to decimate the New Republic. The galaxy’s only hope is Rey (Ridley), reformed First Order Stormtrooper Finn (Boyega), and crack Resistance pilot Poe Dameron (Isaac), who search for a long-lost map to reclusive and disgraced Jedi Master Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) while being hounded by the First Order’s malevolent and brutal enforcer, Kylo Ren (Driver).
The Background: It’s safe to say that the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy struggled to live up to the lofty expectations set by George Lucas’ original three Star Wars films; although relatively profitable ventures, the films were divisive, to say the least, and lead to one of the most beloved spin-offs in the franchise, Lucas was so burned by the experiences and backlash that he refused to make any further films. In 2012, Lucas sold his lucrative franchise to Disney for $4 billion and they immediately set about developing a series of spin-off feature films to further flesh out the Star Wars saga, spearheaded by a long-awaited seventh entry in the space opera saga. Although he consulted with Lucasfilm’s new president, Kathleen Kennedy, on story ideas for their new trilogy, he was hurt when they discarded his input and proceeded without him, bringing in J. J. Abrams to direct, contribute to the script, and help lay plans for the trilogy. In addition to bringing back as many names from the Original Trilogy as possible, Abrams brought in fresh, young, up-and-coming faces to be part of his new film, which relied just as much on practical effects as it did CGI to evoke the spirit of the films that started it all. Naturally, anticipation was high after even the most basic of teaser trailers, and the film’s $2.068 billion worldwide box office made it the highest-grossing film of 2015. The film was also met with overwhelmingly positive reviews; critics praised the film as a return to form for the franchise, the balance between nostalgia and new content, and even heralded it as the best Star Wars film since the Original Trilogy. Others, including Lucas, found it somewhat derivative, but Disney ploughed onwards with their Star Wars plans, for better or worse, regardless, producing two additional sequels as well as new videogames and spin-off movies to turn a profit from their acquisition.
The Review: I’d like to make one thing perfectly clear right off the bat: I’m a big Star Wars fan. Growing up, the franchise was something of an elusive enigma for me; my friends were huge fans, we all played the games and enjoyed the Expanded Universe novels, but actually watching the Original Trilogy was pretty difficult in the mid-nineties. Even when then the remastered versions were released, it wasn’t exactly cheap to buy or rent them, so expectations were pretty high for the Prequel Trilogy. Sadly, they largely killed off a lot of the excitement I had for the franchise; they screwed up or outright erased the Expanded Universe novels, replaced fun space adventure and action with wooden performances and dull subplots, and generally failed to meet the standards of the Original Trilogy. I was therefore glad when it seemed like we wouldn’t get any more Star Wars films, and extremely pessimistic when Disney announced the production of a new Sequel Trilogy. I found the first teaser trailer incredibly underwhelming as it showcased basically nothing except another desert planet and the return of fan favourites Han Solo (Ford) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew/Joonas /Ian Whyte), and I was more than a little annoyed that the new films wouldn’t be drawing inspiration from what I still consider to be the “real” Sequel Trilogy, Timothy Zane’s Thrawn books (1991 to 1993). However, the secrecy surrounding the film had me intrigued and I was excited at the prospect of seeing how the Star Wars universe had changed thirty years after the Rebellion defeated the evil Galactic Empire. Sadly, The Force Awakens gets off to a bad start right from the opening crawl: Luke’s disappeared and, without him, there’s apparently nobody to oppose the uprising of the First Order. Consequently, Princess Leia Organa (Fisher), now a General in the New Republic’s Resistance movement comprised of new allies and former Rebels, sends her best pilot, Poe, to meet her old ally, the hitherto-unknown Lor San Tekka (Max von Sydow in a completely throwaway role), to get information on Luke’s whereabouts to help turn the tide.
While the Jedi may have become myth, Poe is determined to oppose the First Order with the Resistance.
So, immediately, there’s a sense that everything that’s old is new again; I honestly thought this film would be a chance to see the roles reversed a bit and have the remnants of the Empire be reduced to a rag-tag group of ships and terrorists trying to strike back against the overwhelming benevolence of the New Republic but, instead, the Empire is essentially back in the First Order, which is somehow so powerful that it threatens the entire New Republic! Not only that, but Luke is gone, despite Mark Hamill being so prominent in all the promotional materials for the film, and his absence is another in a long list of misguided decisions by the filmmakers in this film and its sequels. One thing I found particularly aggravating was just how quickly everyone forgot important concepts like the Jedi and influential people like Luke Skywalker. Just like at the beginning of Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope(Lucas, 1977), the Jedi are all but extinct and they, and even Luke, have passed into myth because, apparently, thirty years is enough time for people to forget anything. However, I think a lot of people miss that it’s only been two yearssince Ben Solo sacked the Jedi Temple and drove Luke into exile. While I can understand someone like Rey, who lives a remote and isolated life, thinking Luke was only a myth, this seems to be the prevailing thought amongst many of the side characters and there’s a definite sense that Luke’s been missing for far longer than he actually has. One decision I do agree with, however, is the introduction of fresh, new blood to the franchise and I have absolutely no issue with having new protagonists take centre stage as it brings us such brilliant characters as Poe Dameron, a hot-shot Resistance pilot who is both completely loyal to the ideals of the New Republic but also somewhat reckless out in the field. Still, he’s not an idiot; when Kylo Ren slaughters Lor San Tekka and his villagers on Jakku, Poe is smart enough to leave the map he received from Lor with his trusty droid companion, BB-8 (Bill Hader and Ben Schwartz), but feisty enough to backtalk Kylo Ren (he even takes a shot at him in a failed attempt to save Lor’s life) even when he’s painfully left at the dark tyrant’s mercy. Poe’s reputation as the best fighter pilot in the Resistance proceeds him, and even Kylo Ren is impressed by Poe’s resilience; this, alongside his skills as a pilot and his defiance, is a defining trait of Poe’s but even he’s only able to escape from the First Order’s clutches thanks to morally conflicted Stormtrooper FN-2187. Excited at the prospect of a daring, action-packed escape (and at piloting a TIE Fighter), Poe jumps at the chance and quickly forms a bond with the desperate FN-2187, whom Poe nicknames “Finn”. Although Poe seemingly perishes in their escape attempt, he randomly turns out to be alive later in the film, leading to an emotional reunion on Takodana with his newfound friend, BB-8, and the coming together of our three new protagonists to assault Starkiller Base.
Though she’s lived a sheltered life, Rey is a gifted pilot, mechanic, and a potential Jedi!
With Poe presumed dead, BB-8 is stumbled upon by scavenger Rey who, at this point, has no idea of her true heritage and believes that she was simply abandoned when she was a child (Cailey Fleming). Rey lives a hard life on the arid sands of Jakku, one that sees her foraging derelicts for meagre portions of food and living a life of solitude in the remains of an All-Terrain Armoured Transport (AT-AT). However, although she longs to journey to the stars, very much like Luke in A New Hope, she’s compelled to stay in the hopes that her parents will return for her. Self-reliant and strong-willed, Rey is something of a savage; she’s naturally paranoid and suspicious of others since she’s clearly spent her whole life fighting for what little food and possessions she has but does have an affinity for droids, which eventually causes her to fall in with Finn when he comes looking for BB-8 to honour Poe’s final wish. This finally gives Rey the opportunity to leave Jakku and she does so in style by piloting the dilapidated Millennium Falcon, which just so happens to not only be on Jakku but also the only ship available to them. Even more conveniently, Rey is not just the jack-of-all-trades but, seemingly, the master of them all; she’s able to speak multiple languages (including “droid speak” and Wookie), can repair, fix, and build machinery, is a naturally gifted pilot, and is also strong in the Force! It’s therefore not surprising that many have labelled her a “Mary Sue” since Rey just seems to magically be able to do everything because the script demands it and is quickly befriended by faces old and new alike. However, I don’t really have that much of a problem with Rey; sure, Daisy Ridley is the weakest of the main three actors for me and I personally found Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) a far more compelling female lead in Disney’s new Star Wars films, but I enjoyed her wide-eyed hero worship of characters like Luke and Han, her feisty independent spirit, and her overall presentation as a lonely young woman trying to find her place in the galaxy and realising that she has far more potential than she ever realised.
While Finn isn’t the Jedi he seems to be, his moral compass is admirable and BB-8 adds to the charm.
BB-8 is more than just the newest cutesy mascot for the franchise, it’s a whole character in its own right; since R2-D2 (Jimmy Vee/Kenny Baker) is in standby mode for the majority of the film, and C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) is mainly just a glorified cameo who keeps banging on about his red arm (that’s never explained onscreen and disappears by the next film), BB-8 takes centre stage as the main robotic character of The Force Awakens. Despite only communicating in electronic bleeps, it’s absolutely exuding personality; you can tell that it greatly cares for Poe as a friend and is saddened when it thinks he’s died), and is both suspicious and amusingly supportive of Finn when they join forces with Rey. As fantastic as it is to see BB-8 realised as a largely practical effect (I still have no idea how they were able to pull off its rolling movement so seamlessly), it’s a bit odd that many characters understand its “droid speak”, which seems to be a lazy convenience by the writers. This is paralleled by perhaps the most intriguing of the three new protagonists, Finn. Those who have watched Star Wars’ many spin-off media may be familiar with Clone Troopers and Stromtroopers having individual identities and (probably) consciences, but this was the first time we’d seen a Stormtrooper be anything other than a nameless, faceless minion for the heroes to gun down in cold blood. Inducted into the First Order at an early age and forced into war, Finn is no mere pre-programmed clone or mindless soldier; he’s a frightened young man in over his head who is horrified at the merciless slaughter of innocents and the First Order’s oppressive ways. Finn is desperate to escape their wrath but frees Poe not just because he needs a pilot but because it’s the “right thing to do”. This edict guides Finn throughout the remainder of the film; moved by Poe’s apparent demise and trust, Finn takes up not only his newfound friend’s jacket but also his mission to return BB-8 and the map it contains to the Resistance. However, conscious that he will be unfairly judged if he openly admits that he’s a former First Order Stormtrooper, Finn desperately feigns being with the Resistance i to quickly earn Rey and BB-8’s trust, something he’s clearly unhappy about but his absolute terror of the First Order overrides his doubts. He’s seen first-hand what they’re capable of, and what they’re building, and is focused only on getting as far away from them as he can by any means necessary, but is morally unable to simply leave his newfound friends to wage a suicide war against Starkiller Base without his expertise.
Kylo Ren is a tortured, surprisingly complex, and explosive youth lashing out at everything he sees.
Another notable aspect of the film is new villain Kylo Ren; played with a magnificent imposing menace by the fantastic Adam Driver, Kylo Ren may look like a cheap knock off of Darth Vader (David Prowse/James Earl Jones) but that’s actually kind of the point and he’s much more than that. Considering that, beneath the imposing mask, he’s actually Ben Solo, Force-sensitive son of Leia and Han and grandson of Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), it makes sense that he’d model himself after the infamous Sith Lord and the fact that he keeps the shattered remains of Vader’s helmet just goes to show just how twisted his perception of reality is. Kylo Ren makes an immediate impact not just with his emotionless helmet and deep, semi-cybernetic baritone that oozes menace, but also by exhibiting a command over the Dark Side that we haven’t really seen before as he freezes a blaster bolt in mid-air. Kylo Ren showcases a knack for forcibly drawing information from his victims using the Dark Side of the Force, penetrating their mind and feelings in order to both torture and manipulate them and learn what he needs, but he’s also an extremely explosive and unpredictable individual. Originally a Jedi prodigy, he was a student of Luke’s but found himself seemingly betrayed by his master, destroying the Jedi training grounds, and killing all but a few similarly inclined Jedi and recruiting them into his poorly defined “Knights of Ren”. Thanks to the influence of Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis), Ben is turned against his friends and family and assumes the role of “Kylo Ren” but remains a tortured and conflicted young man who lets his anger and insecurities get the best of him. Overwhelmed by these dark feelings, Kylo Ren regularly lashes out in volatile anger when he’s bested and is seemingly driven by an innate desire to destroy all remnants of his past, no matter how badly it pains him to do so.
Sadly, the film squanders many of the First Order’s more promising elements.
The First Order is largely comprised of obedient Stormtroopers and extremist military commanders, just like the Empire, but there are a few standouts amongst their ranks: first and foremost is General Hux (Gleeson), the young and cruel-hearted commander of the First Order’s military forces. A proud and stubborn man, Hux believes whole-heartedly in the training standards of his Stormtroopers and the might of his military (he’s particularly proud of his ludicrous planet-destroying Starkiller Base) and delivers rousing speeches of hatred and vitriol in a pretty explicit allusion of Adolf Hitler’s public addresses. General Hux and Kylo Ren have a tumultuous relationship, to say the least, in which they both vie for the attention, and approval, of Supreme Leader Snoke; this means they continually butt heads over the best methods to advance the First Order’s cause and have a professional rivalry that borders on antagonistic since they have little respect or liking for each other. However, all in all, The Force Awakens really squanders some of its new characters; Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie) looks visually impressive and intimidating with her striking reflective Stormtrooper armour and blunt commanding voice, but she does literally nothing except exist on the periphery and be easily coerced into helping the heroes infiltrate Starkiller Base. It’s not even more explicit whether she perishes in the planet’s destruction or not, and I have no idea why the filmmakers didn’t have it be her who confronts Finn on Takodana rather than a random Stormtrooper. Perhaps the most glaring and almost insulting inclusion in the film is the First Order’s malformed and malevolent figurehead, Supreme Leader Snoke; seeming to be a mutilated giant thanks to only appearing as an ominous hologram, this poorly-veiled stand-in for the far more enigmatic and memorable Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) irked me no end when I first saw the film and continues to vex me now not just for how poorly his story was cut off at the knees in the subsequent sequels but because he really wasn’t necessary to the films at all. For me, including another wizened, decrepit, malicious Sith Lord just took away from the agency and independence of Kylo Ren’s character. Once again, it was a case of the same old thing as a promising Jedi recruit fell under the sway of a dark influencer and pledged his fealty to this supposedly all-powerful Dark Sider and I just feel like characters like General Hux and Kylo Ren would’ve been stronger without this puppet master looming over them and allowed them, and Captain Phasma, to take the spotlight as the three main figureheads of the First Order.
The film’s new characters are joined by all the familiar faces, now older but larger in their same roles.
After escaping Jakku, Rey and Finn conveniently run across old favourites Han Solo and Chewbacca; having lost the Millennium Falcon some years prior and returned to his smuggling ways, Han walked away from the Republic after Ben’s turn to the Dark Side, with Chewie in tow due to his unending loyalty. Where he was once a sceptical, self-serving smuggler, Han is now a jaded veteran who has seen more than his fair share of conflict and knows the extent of the Force only too well. Both he and Chewie take an instant like to Rey over their mutual appreciation of the Falcon’s capabilities and their piloting and mechanical skills, but Han is initially more concerned with retaking his ship than joining the battle against the First Order. He’s swayed to aid them, however, after seeing the partial map BB-8 possesses; he grimly relates a version of Luke’s self-imposed exile, omitting key information like his relationship to Kylo Ren (which is just dropped in our laps with little fuss of fanfare by Snoke), and leads them to Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong’o). This centuries-old sage very much fills the role of a Yoda (Frank Oz) archetype: she’s perceptive and wise, well versed in the nature of the Force, and even inexplicably has Anakin’s lightsaber, which Luke lost during his time in Cloud City. Han’s time on Takodana also reunites him with Leia after the Resistance fend off the First Orde’s attack; while Han is just as cynical as ever thanks to having lost his only son to the Dark Side, Leia remains the strong-willed beacon of hope that she always was. She commands respect from her Resistance fighters, who follow her lead without question and with unfaltering loyalty, and she also quickly forms an affectionate relationship with Rey. Her reunion with Han is one of both regret and joy; Han expresses remorse for all the wasted years he spent away from her, and (just as Luke did with Vader) she still maintains the hope that there’s good in Ben. Han promises to try and reach him, which ultimately proves to be his downfall; in an emotional confrontation, Han pleads with Ben to give up his crusade and ends up run through by Kylo Ren’s lightsaber in the troubled youth’s frantic desire to cut off all emotional attachments to his past. However, in his last moments, Han shows nothing but affection for his misguided son and, though it costs him his life, his sacrifice wouldn’t be in vain and would pay an integral part in Ben’s eventual (if questionable) redemption.
The Nitty-Gritty: Despite my dislike for many of the decisions made in this film and the sequels, I do have to praise the script; character dialogue is especially entertaining, with the rapport between Poe and Finn being a notable highlight. It’s not just lines like Poe’s “who talks first?” line and Finn’s “I am with the Resistance” exchange with Rey that stand out either; BB-8’s hesitation at trusting Finn and then giving him a “thumbs up” is not only a sweet moment that influences the droid with more personality than I ever could’ve imagined but also extremely amusing, and little touches like Stormtroopers slowly backing away when Kylo Ren is losing his shit and cameos by the likes of Daniel Craig really help to elevate the script and even the most insignificant characters far beyond the stilted delivery churned out in the Prequel trilogy. Indeed, the performances are commendable across the board; the wit and banter exhibited is natural and amusing, Kylo Ren’s menace is threatening and imposing, General Hux is suitably over the top, and even Harrison Ford seems to be enjoying himself. Not only that but the film is peppered with little moments that help to I remember coming out of the film the first time I saw it and being won over by the character interactions alone; The Force Awakens was a breath of fresh air after the often wooden and awkward line delivery of the Prequel Trilogy, though don’t let this fool you into thinking that the actual plot is anything other than a shameless rehash of the best and most memorable aspects of the Original Trilogy.
The film does a fantastic job of recreating the look and feel of the Original Trilogy.
Another massive positive of The Force Awakens is its visual presentation. The abundance of practical effects is greatly appreciated; the First Order Stormtroopers actually wear suits, there’s physical ships, sets, and locations for characters to get into and interact with, and even BB-8 is a wholly practical effect. While there’s obviously a great deal of green screen and CGI involved in the film, it’s nowhere near as noticeably as in the Prequel Trilogy, which makes everything much more enjoyable to watch as it feels like things are actually happening rather than being created. Even now, despite my many issues with the film and its sequels, I can’t fault the special effects; it’s pretty bloody cool to see Rey scavenging a crashed Star Destroyer and to see it buried deep in the sand, the Millennium Falcon’s exhilarating escape from Jakku is as thrilling as any of the other space battles in the film, and there’s clearly been a great deal of love and care put into recreated the “lived-in”, practical feel of the Original Trilogy to juxtapose the limited resources of the Resistance and backwater worlds like Jakku with the technological might of the First Order. When CGI is used, it’s presented far less like some PlayStation 3-era videogame and in a way that allows ships and creatures to seamlessly appear part of their environment thanks, largely, to existing alongside traditional practical make-up effects and animatronics. This makes everything feel much more “real” and believable as characters are actually, physically in a space and at the controls of their crafts, which makes the many space skirmishes and action sequences all the more exciting. Perhaps the only real downside is the baffling inclusion of the monstrous Rathtars aboard Han’s new smuggling vessel, an inclusion simply made to get Han and the others out of a bind that didn’t need to exist as calling Han’s issues with the gangs looking to collect on him really doesn’t go anywhere, but seeing all the classic Star Wars ships in action once again was an undeniable thrill made all the more commendable by them having imperfections and being presented faithfully to their original depictions abut augmented, rather than overwhelmed, by CGI.
Of all the derivative aspects from the Original Trilogy, Starkiller Base is the most glaring inclusion.
However, I remain aggravated by the many allusions to the Original Trilogy that are peppered throughout the film; I enjoy nostalgia as much as the next person but The Force Awakens pulls so much from the first three films that it’s easy to see why so many found it derivative. Rey is a lonely girl living on a desert planet who dreams of the stars (just like Luke), there’s a mystery around Luke and the Jedi that’s almost exactly like Luke experiences at the start of his journey, and the First Order is just the Empire in new clothing as they pilot the same ships and are a malevolent and overwhelming force for the heroes to fight against. It doesn’t end there, though: Han’s confrontation with Kylo Ren is very reminiscent of Luke’s iconic run-in with Darth Vader in Cloud City, Poe hides a vital piece of information in a droid just like Leia did, Kylo Ren is introduced in a manner very similar to Darth Vader and even interrogates Rey much like Vader did to Leia, Maz’s castle very much evokes the same feeling of danger and debauchery as the Mos Eisley Cantina, and even the disgusting Unkar Plutt (Simon Pegg) isn’t a million miles away from Jabba the Hutt (Declan Mulholland/Scott Schumann). But perhaps the most glaring of all is Starkiller Base itself, a planet-sized weapon capable of destroying the New Republic’s core worlds in one shot, apparently regardless of where those planets are located in the galaxy. As ominous and dangerous a threat as the Death Stars were, those were merely the size of moons; Starkiller Base dwarfs them in comparison (because bigger is always better, right?) and is five times as dangerous with its ludicrously power and impractical main cannon. It makes you wonder how the First Order are able to aim their weapon; like, what if their targets are further away, or on the other side of the planet? And how in the absolute hell did the First Order find the time and resources to build such a preposterous weapon? It took the Empire thirty years to build the Death Star and, in less time, the First Order were apparently able to partially hollow out a planet, install all their machinery, and develop the technology to harness the power of a star all to destroy five worlds. Starkiller Base is not only far more impractical and far more immobile than the Death Stars, its power is also much more finite as surely it will eventually suck that star dry? And, to make matters worse, the First Order learned nothing from their predecessors and failed to account for glaring weaknesses in their doomsday weapon that allow a rag-tag fleet of Resistance fighters and ground troops to destroy it from the inside out (a victory that you would think would spell the end of the First Order but, somehow, they’re apparent stronger than ever in the sequel despite surely the vast majority of their forces being stationed on that world?)
For me, the film really wastes a lot of the potential to do something new with the franchise.
However, The Force Awakens’ problems go beyond just banking on nostalgia; I can understand that, but what I can’t understand (and still can’t understand) is just how off the mark so much of its narrative is. As great as the new characters are the as heart-warming as the call-backs and attention to detail is, the execution is just so bafflingly off in so many ways that just caused a ripple effect that messed up the subsequent sequels as well. This includes annoyances like Kylo Ren’s unmasking not being saved for his confrontation with Han rather than being wasted on Rey’s interrogation, not getting a sense of how the galaxy has changed since the New Republic was formed, not seeing Luke training new Jedi, Han and Leia being separated, Rey’s origins being left vague simply as a sequel hook, and not getting to see anything of the last thirty years of these character’s lives. Hindsight is a beautiful thing, and it’s easy to say what they “should have” done, but I was restructuring this movie in my head within minutes after leaving the cinema. I would’ve had Leia and Han be together as supporting characters and highlighted their new struggles as politicians rather than freedom fighters so we could see them as new characters, rather than the same ones but older. I would have had Rey and Ben be cousins or siblings and Luke’s finest students and have Ben’s turn to the Dark Side be a gradual thing that peaked in the second movie. Or I would have removed Snoke completely and restructured the First Order so that Hux commands the military, Kylo Ren leads his acolytes as the “muscle” (maintaining their professional rivalry), and given more screen time to Captain Phasma as the front-line commander of the troops. I definitely would have had the First Order be a small, but aggressive, terrorist force that attacked key targets (and named them something a bit less obnoxious), and maybe had Kylo Ren seek out Luke’s scattered Jedi to kill or recruit them. I would have definitely made more of Finn being Force-sensitive and carry it through, possibly even at the cost of Rey’s Force ability, and absolutely would have changed the depiction of Starkiller Base! The focus of the film should have been on intercepting a vital component or power source for an unrevealed First Order weapon; we should see only the interior and glimpses of their hidden base and recruitment centre until the finale and Starkiller Base should have been saved for the third film as the ultimate threat. The Resistance could have then destroyed a factory or facility the First Order had overtaken, not built, on a moon for a similar finale. I’m okay with Han dying but I do think it should’ve been saved for the next film so we could get more screen time with Ben and Rey and just a better sense of why we should care that this random new character turned bad beyond him being Han Solo’s kid.
Han’s sacrifice pushes Rey to find her true self, and allows the Resistance to pinpoint Luke’s location.
To be fair, though, Han’s death causes anguish not just for Leia and Chewie, but also for Rey, who had very quickly come to see him as not just an icon but a father figure of sorts. This only exacerbates her hatred and vendetta against Kylo Ren, who intimidated her, tortured her, threatened her newfound friends, and embodies all of the wanton destruction and evil of the First Order. Thanks to Han’s sacrifice, the shield generator around Starkiller Base is lowered, allow Poe to strike the thermal oscillator and set off a chain reaction that tears the planet apart; despite this, and being injured, Kylo Ren purses Finn and Rey into the nearby woods and a final confrontation goes down. Unfortunately for Finn, he’s not the potential Jedi the film leads us to believe he is and he suffers a seemingly devastating injury at Kylo’s hands; Kylo is then stunned when his attempts to reclaim his grandfather’s lightsaber are met with failure and the blade instead finds itself into Rey’s hands. Incredibly, despite having absolutely no training with the weapon and the unpredictable nature of her Force powers, Rey is able to more than hold her own against Kylo Ren, who is fascinated by her and the potential she has and attempts to sway her towards the Dark Sides. However, Rey is so incensed at Kylo’s actions that she angrily rebukes his offer and attacks with everything she has; Kylo’s fighting style is far more refined and deliberate and much different to other Force users we’ve seen so far. His lightsaber is styled after a traditional medieval sword and literally splitting with energy, but his movements are heavy-handed and fuelled by strength and rage, something he only exacerbates by repeatedly beating his chest and worsening the pain from his injury to increase his pain and anger. Ultimately, their duel is interrupted by the destruction of Starkiller Base but, while Kylo lives to fight another day, he’s left with an absolutely brutal scar across his face and the Resistance is finally able to complete the map and pinpoint Luke’s location. The ending then becomes this really rushed finale as Artoo is reactivated and Rey takes Hans place aboard the Millennium Falcon to confront Luke on the remote world of Ahch-Toh, where the film ends with an awkward stare down between the two. Personally, considering that Luke really wasn’t in the film at all, I think it would’ve been better to end the movie with the Resistance completing the map and save Rey’s trip to Ahch-To for the sequel as it really fell flat for me, despite how cool it was to see Luke as a wizened hermit.
The Summary: I find myself conflicted over Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens. On the one hand, it’s a brilliant love letter to the Original Trilogy, dusting off all the familiar ships and characters and tropes that made George Lucas’ films so iconic. The use of practical effects is incredibly appealing, and the use of physical sets, props, and locations really helps to capture the same feeling evoked in those first films, before Lucas went all crazy with the CGI. The new characters are great as well; they all exude a great deal of chemistry and charisma and have a great rapport with each other. The friendship between Finn and Poe, and Finn and Rey, was far better and more believable than any relationship seen in the Prequel Trilogy and Kylo Ren made for a surprisingly complex villain who did in one movie what three films struggled to do with Anakin Skywalker. Equally, I have few faults with the dialogue and characterisations; even one-dimensional villains and periphery characters show some personality either through some snappy line delivery or a striking visual look, and BB-8 was a fantastic little droid to add to the Star Wars ensemble who managed to stand out as unique amongst its peers. However, on the other hand, there’s the sheer banality of the whole thing; at its core, it’s just A New Hope again, with elements of the other two films tossed in and weaved into the narrative simply to cash-in on nostalgia and familiarity. There’s no real sense of progression here; yes, we have fresh new faces, but the galaxy seems to be exactly the same as we last left it except that the characters we grew up idolising have gotten older, wearier, and largely walked away from their responsibilities. We’re told a few things about what happened in the interim, but I know that I, personally, would much rather have seen it or at least seen some indication of it rather than just falling back on a safe status quo but with a new coat of paint. I think that sums up my feelings on The Force Awakens quite well: it’s too safe. There’s no real attempt to try anything new, just rehashing what we’ve seen before and underdelivering on potential new storylines as a result, and it’s especially disappointing given how experimental and different Disney’s Star Wars projects would eventually become after their Sequel Trilogy failed to live up to expectations. It’s probably still the best of the Sequel Trilogy for me, but that’s really not saying much, and The Force Awakens continues to just be a huge missed opportunity to try something new that spiralled into a nosedive with the next two sequels.
My Rating:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Pretty Good
Are you a fan of Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens? Did you find it to be a decent start to the Sequel Trilogy and how would you rank it against other films in the Star Wars saga? Which of the three new protagonists was your favourite? Did you enjoy seeing a Stormtrooper have a crisis of conscience? What did you think to Rey and did you find her a little too perfect as a character? Were you a fan of Kylo Ren? What are your thoughts on the use of nostalgia and did you like the narrative presented in the film? Were you shocked by Han’s death and annoyed that Luke was basically a glorified cameo? I’d love to see your thoughts on The Force Awakens in the replies below or on my social media, so feel free to share your opinions, good or bad, and thanks for joining me for three more days of Star Wars!
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